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LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


The 

King of the Golden 
River 

BY JOHN RUSKIN 

Edited for School Use 
BY AUSTIN G. SCHMIDT, S. J. 



Loyola University Press 
CHICAGO 












LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


The 

King of the Golden River 

} 

^ of ^ttria 

By 

John Ruskin 

a 

ILLUSTRATED BY RICHARD DOYLE 

EDITED FOR SCHOOL USE 

By Austin G. Schmidt, S. J. 




Loyola University Press 

CHICAGO 


COPYRIGHT. 1918 

BY 

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY 
Chicago, III. 


4 0 '!^ 


S)CI.A50a3l^J: 


SEP 1 1 19/8 

* /. 




e 








INTRODUCTION 


JOHN RUSKIN 

If you had chanced, over a century ago, to be passing down 
Billiter Street, London, your attention might have been attracted 
by a small and inconspicuous counting-house, over whose door 
was a brass plate bearing the name of Ruskin, Telford, & 
Domecq. Investigation would have revealed the fact that this 
firm dealt exclusively in the finest imported wines. Entering, 
you would have been greeted by a tall and handsome man, 
evidently of Scotch descent, who, in answer to your inquiry, 
would have informed you that Mr. Domecq was managing the 
house’s vineyards in Spain; that Mr. Telford had retired from 
business; and that he, Mr. Ruskin, would be glad to supply 
you with sherry of any quality desired, even though you should 
seek a vintage over a hundred years old and a flavor worthy 
of a banquet spread for a king. And he would not have been 
exaggerating; for the sherry that came from the famous 
Macharnudo vineyards was unsurpassed by any then produced. 

The man who might thus have addressed you in so unpreten- 
tious an office was destined to amass a fortune of a million 
dollars, and to be the father of one of the foremost prose 
writers of the nineteenth century. But at that time he was 
living in very humble circumstances. His father had left him 
a great number of debts, to the paying of which he was not 
legally bound, but which a sense of honor and the respect he 
felt for his father’s memory had made him determine to dis- 
charge. He had a special motive for working as hard as he 
could to pay off these debts and acquire a fortune of Kis own, 
for he had betrothed his cousin, Margaret Cox, and they had 
agreed not to marry until they were assured of a sufficient 
income. But so heavy were the liabilities he had thus assumed 
that it was many years before the wedding took place; and 
when finally he led his bride to the altar, he was thirty-two 
years of age, and she, thirty-three. 

Their only child, John Ruskin, was born on February 8,- 
1819. And when his mother first held him in her arms, she 
wondered, as all mothers do, how great a name he was to make 
for himself in the world; but, unlike many mothers,— she did 
not content herself with wondering — she had very well-matured 


6 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


and complete plans for educating her son in such a way as to 
make it impossible for him not to succeed. 

But before we say anything about what those plans w^ere, 
we must know something of the character of his mother. She 
came of a good Scotch family, but her youth had been spent 
under conditions very painful to her pride. Her widowed 
mother had been left penniless ; and, as the only means of 
supporting her large family of children, had become the owner 
and manager of a tavern. Here Margaret Cox was brought 
up; and here, after receiving a limited education at a private 
school, she had set to work alone, while her future husband was 
winning his fortune, to supply the deficiencies of her early 
training. She became very well versed in English literature, 
understood the elements of Latin, and was a close student of the 
Bible. As a housewife and needlewoman she was beyond 
criticism and comparison ; she was extremely orderly and 
systematic; was a firm believer in the Evangelical religion, by 
whose strict precepts she always guided herself ; she had a high 
spirit, and a will that could never be diverted from its purpose ; 
she was, finally, a woman of lofty ambitions ; and as these had 
to a large extent been frustrated in her own case, she was de- 
termined to see them fulfilled in her son. She had dedicated 
him to God from the time he was born, and had selected for 
him the episcopal dignity as the conquest with which his 
aspirations and her own were to be satisfied. 

Her plans for John, then, included the careful formation 
of his character and instruction in every branch of useful 
knowledge, both of which courses of discipline were to be 
begun at the earliest possible moment. 

The development of his character naturally came first. 
Whatever else John Ruskin was, he was not a pampered child. 
He was exercised from infancy in absolute and unquestioning 
obedience. A word, a look, the lifting of a finger was for him 
an order to be obeyed with the promptitude of a soldier. He 
failed now and then, — what child does not? — and for every 
failure was promptly and unsparingly whipped. He had no toys 
and no playmates. He was given no sweets to eat. In old age 
he could remember the occasion when he had dessert at dinner 
for the first time; it was a custard which his father had not 
finished, and which was given to him that it might not be 
wasted. 

It must not be supposed, however, that he was miserable 
under this treatment. His mother’s methods were needlessly 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


7 


strict, but they were not cruel. And after all, the shortest 
road to happiness lies through submission to law and the habit 
of self-restraint. Whims that are gratified become tyrants that 
enslave us. 

When Ruskin 'was four years old, the family moved to 
Herne Hill, a beautiful village not far from London. He had 
developed, even at that early age, a great love of Nature. The 
lack of playmates and toys had forced him to find his enjoy- 
ment in studying the things he saw around him ; and so it came 
to pass that he would sit for hours examining a flower, a 
cloud, or a running stream. And at Herne Hill he had many 
more beautiful things to take pleasure in than he had found in 
London. Their house stood on a hill which commanded a mag- 
nificent view of the surrounding country, and had a large gar- 
den with a hedge, where John could play and watch his mother 
working over her flower-beds. 

At Herne Hill his education w^as begun in earnest. His 
mother attempted to teach him to read by making him spell out 
words letter by letter, as was usually done with children ; but 
he found this method too slow^ or in some way unsuited to the 
peculiar cast of his mind. So his mother left him to his own 
resources, and he soon learned to read and spell by copying 
passages from books. “I absolutely declined to learn to read 
by syllables,” he. tells us in his memoirs ; “but would get an 
entire sentence b^^ heart with great facility, and point with ac- 
curacy to every word in the page as I repeated it.” 

Every day his mother assigned him something that he was 
to learn. If he had not mastered it by noon, he was kept in 
the house until he had done so ; but he assures us that he usually 
had his tasks done before the appointed time and w^as almost 
always free to spend the entire afternoon playing in the garden. 

One of the first books he was given to read was the Bible. 
From childhood until he left home to go to Oxford, he had to 
read aloud from it to his mother every day. They read it from 
the beginning to the end, “hard words and all;” and when the 
last chapter had been read, they began again with the first chap- 
ter of Genesis. As a child, he found the Bible uninteresting; 
but later he learned to love it very much, and always considered 
that his thorough knowledge of it was the most important part 
of his education. 

His father was accustomed to hire a carriage every year and 
spend a month or two visiting his customers. He took his wife 
and child with him on these journeys, and so John had the ad- 


8 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


vantage of becoming familiar with every part of England and 
Wales. They saw old castles and famous manors, for many of 
Mr. Ruskin’s patrons were titled people; they visited art gal- 
leries and cathedrals, and, indeed, everything of interest that 
lay along their route. Later they made yearly trips to the Con- 
tinent, visiting Flanders, France, Switzerland, and Italy, and 
spending much time in the Alps. 

When Ruskin was quite young, his mother taught him the 
elements of Latin; and his father then read some of the great 
Latin classics with him. His father was a far better scholar 
than his mother; he had been a pupil of the famous Dr. Thomas 
Brown, possessed a fine literary taste, and was endowed with no 
small skill in painting. His favorite authors were such masters 
as Shakespeare, Pope, and Cervantes. It was his custom on 
Sunday afternoon to read aloud from their works, his little son 
sitting quietly all the while, and listening- with a comprehension 
far beyond his years. 

When Ruskin grew older, he was put under the care of 
various tutors, who instructed him in drawing, music, mathe- 
matics, and Latin ; he then went to a private school within easy 
walking distance of Herne Hill ; and was finally sent to Oxford, 
the hope of his parents being that he would then enter a theo- 
logical seminary. 

He worked faithfully at Oxford, but poor health and a lack 
of enthusiasm for the studies prescribed there prevented his 
winning any great distinction. After his graduation the question 
of his career came up for discussion. Ruskin, however, felt no 
desire to study for the clergy, and did not wish to decide upon 
a profession at that time. So the making of the decision was 
postponed; but if his mother had any hope of gradually winning 
him over to her own view, she was doomed to disappointment, 
for an event occurred very shortly that eliminated all thought 
of an ecclesiastical career from his mind and carried him defin- 
itely into the field of art. 

Ruskin, as we have seen, loved Nature even as an infant, 
and as a boy was taught to appreciate pictures by being taken to 
visit the galleries of England. On his trips to the Continent 
his recreation had consisted in studying the glorious works of 
the old masters to be found not only in the larger Italian cities, 
but even in the churches and monasteries of the humblest vil- 
lage. Consequently he had a very extensive knowledge of art 
when, as a youth of twenty-three, he was graduated from Ox- 
ford. 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


9 


Now there was at this time an artist by the name of Turner, 
whom Ruskin admired above all other living artists. But Tur- 
ner’s merits were not generally appreciated, and he was the 
object of much sharp criticism. Ruskin had already written an 
article in his defense, and now he conceived the idea of cham- 
pioning his cause in a book. This book— the first volume of 
Modern Painters — was written during the year that followed 
his graduation. Ruskin was only twenty-four when this work, 
which is excellent enough to establish the reputation of any 
writer, was being read by everyone in England who had an in- 
terest in art. And it was so vigorous, so eloquent, and so full 
of new ideas that it stamped its author at once as one of the 
most promising writers of the day. Its success settled the ques- 
tion of his career forever. 

The first volume of Modern Painters appeared in 1843, and 
the fifth and last, in 1860. In the meantime Ruskin had pub- 
lished The Stones of Venice, in three volumes, and The Seven 
Lamps of Architecture. His reputation grew steadily; and in 
1860, when he was just turning forty, he was recognized as one 
of the leading authorities in his own field, and as a master of 
a prose style that could compare with the best of any epoch 
in English literature. 

From art, Ruskin was led into social work. He thought that 
art should be loved not so much for its own sake, but rather 
for the sake of the people. He wished to see everyone educated 
up to an appreciation of art ; and he thought that poverty, slums, 
tenements, and factories were things that made the development 
of a national art impossible. He wrote and lectured a great 
deal on this subject; he was extremely generous, too, m con- 
tributing to various projects for the betterment of social con- 
ditions; — he had by this time inherited almost a million dollars 
from his father; — and he proposed numerous reforms which 
were later put into execution. His ideas in their entirety, how- 
ever, were fantastic and impracticable ; and he was less success- 
ful as a social reformer than he was in his proper work as a 
student of Nature and art. 

Ruskin was about five feet ten inches in height, and walked 
with a slight stoop. His hair was brown and curly; his brow, 
furrowed with wrinkles ; his blue eyes, keen and full of fire, 
looked out from beneath shaggy eyebrows; and there was about 
his whole bearing a certain sparkle and nervous restlessness 
indicative of his alert and active mind. Although in his books 
and lectures he expressed his opinions dogmatically, and often 


10 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


went too far in his condemnation of his adversaries, he was in 
conversation gentle, courteous, and humble. 

His style is remarkable for wealth of ideas, richness of 
imagery, power of imagination, and a certain enthusiastic elo- 
quence. Many of his finest passages rise almost to the heights 
of poetry in rhythm and imaginative expression. But while the 
ornamentation of his style is what appeals to most readers, 
Ruskin himself, in discussing the merits of his various works, 
considered those the best in which other qualities were more 
prominent. In his opinion, the finest work is that which is 
“truest, rightest-worded, and most serviceable.” 

He died at Brantwood on January 20, 1900, when almost 
eighty-one years of age. The instructions he had given for his 
funeral were equivalent to a refusal of a tomb in Westminster 
Abbey, where England’s greatest men are honored with burial. 
Only a few distant relatives survived to mourn him, for he left 
no children. 

We have said more about his youth than about his work as 
a writer for two reasons. In the first place, you will read his 
Sesame and Lilies in a higher class, and that will be the proper 
time for you to study his ideas of art and social reform. In 
the second place, the hero of The King of the Golden River, 
little Gluck, is nothing more than a picture of himself as a boy 
drawn for us by Ruskin. Not that Ruskin means Schwartz and 
Hans to represent his father and mother, or that Gluck’s un- 
happy life before his brothers died is intended as a description 
of Ruskin’s youth. No; Treasure Valley is not Herne Hill under 
another name ; but little Gluck, in character though not in the 
circumstances of his life, is indeed John Ruskin under another 
name. And in particular, see whether you do not observe in 
Gluck those three virtues of faith, obedience, and peace which 
Ruskin declares were impressed upon him so thoroughly in youth 
that he never afterwards lost possession of them. 

The King of the Golden River was written in 1841, when 
Ruskin was travelling for his health in Wales, “to amuse a little 
girl.” This little girl was Euphemia Chalmers Gray, whom Rus- 
kin afterwards married. It was preserved in manuscript for ten 
3^ears, and then published with Ruskin’s permission. He says 
of it that it has been “rightly pleasing to nice children, and 
good for them.” Why it should be pleasing, and why it should 
do people good, are questions you yourself will be able to an- 
swer after you have once read it. 


THE 


KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER; 

OR, 

THE BLACK BROTHERS 


CHAPTER L 

How THE Agricultural System of the Black Brothers was 

INTERFERED WITH BY SOUTHWEST WlND^ EsQUIRE. 



A secluded and mountainous part 
of Stiria there was, in old time, a 
valley of the most surprising and 
luxuriant fertility. It was sur- 
rounded, on all sides, by steep and 
rocky mountains, rising into peaks, 
which were always covered with snow, and from 
1 which a number of torrents descended in constant 
cataracts. One of these fell westward, over the face 
of a crag so high that, when the sun had set to every- 
thing else, and all below was darkness, his beams still 
shone full upon this waterfall, so that it looked like a 
shower of gold. It was, therefore, called by the people 
of the neighborhood, the Golden River. It was strange 
that none of these streams fell into, the valley itself. 


12 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


They all descended on the other side of the mountains, 
and wound away through broad plains and by populous 
cities. But the clouds were drawn so constantly to the 
snowy hills, and rested so softly in the circular hollow, 
that in time of drought and heat, when all the country 
round was burnt up, there was still rain in the little 
valley; and its crops were so heavy, and its hay so high, 
and its apples so red, and its grapes so blue, and its wine 
so rich, and its honey so sweet, that it was a marvel to 
every one who beheld it, and was commonly called the 
Treasure Valley, 

2. The whole of this little valley belonged to three 
brothers, called Schwartz, Hans, and Gluck. Schwartz 
and Hans, the two elder brothers, were very ugly men, 
with over-hanging eyebrows and small dull eyes, which 
were always half shut, so that you couldn’t see into 
them, and always fancied they saw very far into you. 
They lived by farming the Treasure Valley, arid very 
good farmers they were. They killed everything that 
did not pay for its eating. They shot the blackbirds, 
because they pecked the fruit ; and killed the hedgehogs, 
lest they should suck the cows ; they poisoned the 
crickets for eating the crumbs in the kitchen ; and 
smothered the cicadas, which used to sing all summer 
in the lime trees. They worked their servants without 
any wages, till they would not work any more, and then 
quarrelled with them, and turned them out of doors 
without paying them. It would have been very odd, if 
with such a farm, and such a system of farming, they 
hadn’t got very rich; and very rich they did get. They 
generally contrived to keep their corn by them till it was 
very dear, and then sell it for twice its value; they had 
heaps of gold lying about on their floors, yet it was 
never known that they had given so much as a penny 
or a crust in charity ; they never went to Mass ; grum- 
bled perpetually at paying tithes; and were, in a word, 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


13 


of SO cruel and grinding a temper, as to receive from 
all those with whom they had any dealings, the nick- 
name of the “Black Brothers/^ 

3. The youngest brother, Gluck, was as completely 
opposed, in both appearance and character, to his seniors 
as could possibly be imagined or desired. He was not 
above twelve years old, fair, blue-eyed, and kind in tem- 
per to every living thing. He did not, of course, agree 
particularly well with his brothers, or rather, they did 
not agree with him. He was usually appointed to the 
honorable office of turnspit, when there was anything to 
roast, which was not often; for, to do the brothers 
justice, they were hardly less sparing upon themselves 
than upon other people. At other times he used to clean 
the shoes, floors, and sometimes the plates, occasionally 
getting what was left on them, by way of encourage- 
ment, and a wholesome quantity of dry blows, by way 
of education. 

4. Things went on in this manner for a long time. 
At last came a very wet summer, and everything went 
wrong in the country around. The hay had hardly been 
got in, when the haystacks were floated bodily down to 
the sea by an inundation; the vines were cut to pieces 
with the hail ; the corn was all killed by a black blight ; 
only in the Treasure Valley, as usual, all was safe. As 
it had rain when there was rain nowhere else, so it had 
sun when there was sun nowhere else. Everybody 
came to buy corn at the farm, and went away pouring 
maledictions on the Black Brothers. They asked what 
they liked, and got it, except from the poor people, who 
could only beg, and several of whom were starved at 
their very door, without the slightest regard or notice. 

5. It was drawing towards winter, and very cold 
weather, when one day the two elder brothers had gone* 
out, with their usual warning to little Gluck, who waiS; 
left to mind the roast, that he was to let nobody in, and 


14 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


give nothing out. Gluck sat down quite close to the fire, 
for it was raining very hard, and the kitchen walls were 
by no means dry or comfortable looking. He turned and 
turned, and the roast got nice and brown. “What a 
pity,” thought Gluck, “my brothers never ask anybody 
to dinner. Tm sure, when they’ve got such a nice piece 
of mutton as this, and nobody else has got so much as 
a piece of dry bread, it would do their hearts good to 
have somebody to eat it with them.” 

6. Just as he spoke, there came a double knock at 
the house door, yet heavy and dull, as though the 
knocker had been tied up — more like a puff than a knock. 

“It must be the wind,” said Gluck; “nobody else 
would venture to knock double knocks at our door.” 

No; it wasn’t the wind: there it came again very 
hard, and what was particularly astounding, the knocker 
seemed to be in a hurry, and not to be in the least afraid 
of the consequences. Gluck went to the window, opened 
it, and put his head out to see who it was. 

7. It was the most extraordinary looking little gen- 
tleman he had ever seen in his life. He had a very 
large nose, slightly brass-colored; his cheeks were very 
round, and very red, and might have warranted a sup- 
position that he had been blowing a refractory fire for 
the last eight-and- forty hours ; his eyes twinkled mer- 
rily through long silky eyelashes, his moustaches curled 
twice round like a corkscrew on each side of his mouth, 
and his hair, of a curious mixed pepper-and-salt color, 
descended far over his shoulders. He was about four 
feet six in height, and wore a conical pointed cap of 
nearly the same altitude, decorated with a black feather 
some three feet long. His doublet was prolonged be- 
hind into something resembling a violent exaggeration 
of what is now termed a “swallow tail,” but was much 
obscured by the swelling folds of an enormous black, 
glossy-looking cloak, which must have been very much 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


15 


too long in calm weather, as the wind, whistling round 
the old house, carried it clear out from the wearer’s 
shoulders to about four times his own length. 

8. Gluck was so perfectly paralyzed by the singular 
appearance of his visitor, that he remained fixed without 
uttering a word, until the old gentleman, having per- 
formed another, and a more energetic concerto on the 
knocker, turned round to look after his fly-away cloak. 
In so doing he caught sight of Gluck’s little yellow head 
jammed in the window, with its mouth and eyes very 
wide open indeed. 

Hollo !’^ said the little gentleman, “that’s not the way 
to answer the door: I’m wet, let me in.” 

To do the little gentleman justice, he was wet. His 
feather hung down between his legs like a beaten puppy’s 
tail, dripping like an umbrella; and from the ends of his 
moustaches the water was running into his waistcoat 
pockets, and out again like a mill stream. 

“I beg pardon, sir,” said Gluck, “I’m very sorry, but 
I really can’t.” 

“Can’t what!” said the old gentleman. 

“I can’t let you in, sir, — I can’t, indeed ; my brothers 
would beat me to death, sir, if I thought of such a thing. 
What do you want, sir?” 

“Want?” said the old gentleman, petulantly. “I 
want fire, and shelter; and there’s your great fire there 
blazing, cracking, and dancing on the walls, with nobody 
to feel it. Let me in, I say; I only want to warm my- 
self.” 

9. Gluck had had his head, by this time, so long out 
of the window, that he began to feel it was really un- 
pleasantly cold, and when he turned, and saw the beau- 
tiful fire rustling and roaring, and throwing long bright 
tongues up the chimney, as if it were licking its chops 
at the savory smell of the leg of mutton, his heart 
melted within him that it should be burning away for 


16 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


nothing. ‘‘He does look very wet,” said little Gluck; 
“I’ll just let him in for a quarter of an hour.” Round 
he went to the door, and opened it ; and as the little gen- 
tleman walked in, there came a gust of wind through the 
house, that made the old chimneys totter. 



“That’s a good boy,” said the little gentleman. 
“Never mind your brothers. I’ll talk to them.” 

“Pray, sir, don’t do any such thing,” said Gluck. 
“I can’t let you stay till they come; they’d be the death 
of me.” 

“Dear me,” said the old gentleman, “I’m very sorry 
to hear that. How long may I stay ?” 

“Only till the mutton’s done, sir,” replied Gluck, 
“and it’s very brown.” 

10. Then the old gentleman walked into the kitchen, 
and sat himself down on the hob, with the top of his 
cap accommodated up the chimney, for it was a great 
deal too high for the roof. 

“You’ll soon dry there, sir,” said Gluck, and sat 
down again to turn the mutton. But the old gentleman 
did not dry there, but went on drip, drip, dripping 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


17 


among the cinders, and the fire fizzed, and sputtered, and 
began to look very black, and uncomfortable : never was 
such a cloak ; every fold in it ran like a gutter. 

“I beg pardon, sir,” said Gluck at length, after 
watching the water spreading in long, quicksilverlike 
streams over the floor for a quarter of an hour; “mayn’t 
I take your cloak?” 

“No, thank you,” said the old gentleman. 

“Your cap, sir?” 

“I am all right, thank you,” said the old gentleman 
rather gruffly. • 

“But, — sir, — I’m very sorry,” said Gluck, hesitat- 
ingly; “but — really, sir, — you’re — putting the fire out.” 

“It’ll take longer to do the mutton, then,” replied his 
visitor drily. 

11. Gluck was very much puzzled by the behavior 
of his guest; it was such a strange mixture of coolness 
and humility. He turned away at the string medita- 
tively for another five minutes. 

“That mutton looks very nice,” said the old gentle- 
man at length. “Can’t you give me a little bit?” 

“Impossible, sir,” said Gluck. 

“I’m very hungry,” continued the old gentleman: 
“I’ve had nothing to eat yesterday, nor to-day. They 
surely couldn’t miss a bit from the knuckle !” 

He spoke in so very melancholy a tone, that it quite 
melted Gluck’s heart. “They promised me one slice 
to-day, sir,” said he; “I can give you that, but not a 
bit more.” 

“That’s a good boy,” said the old gentleman again. 

12. Then Gluck warmed a plate, and sharpened a 
knife. “I don’t care if I do get beaten for it,” thought 
he. Just as he had cut a large slice out of the mutton, 
there came a tremendous rap at the door. The old 
gentleman jumped off the hob, as if it had. suddenly 
become inconveniently warm. Gluck fitted the slice into 


18 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


the mutton again, with desperate efforts at exactitude, 
and ran to open the door. 

“What did you keep us waiting in the rain for 
said Schwartz, as he walked in, throwing his umbrella 
in Gluck’s face. “Ay ! what for, indeed, you little vaga- 
bond?” said Hans, administering an educational box on 
the ear, as he followed his brother into the kitchen. 

“Bless my soul !’ said Schwartz when he opened the 
door. 



“Amen,” said the little gentleman, who had taken his 
cap off, and was standing in the middle of the kitchen, 
bowing with the utmost possible velocity. 

“Who’s that?” said Scnwartz, catching up a rolling- 
pin, and turning to Gluck with a fierce frown. 

“I don’t know, indeed, brother,” said Gluck in great 
terror. 

“How did he get in?” roared Schwartz. 

“My dear brother,” said Gluck, deprecatingly, “he 
was so very wet !” 

13. The rolling-pin was descending on Gluck’s head ; 
but, at the instant, the old gentleman interposed his 
conical cap, on which it crashed with a shock that shook 




THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


19 


the water out of it all over the room. What was very 
odd, the rolling-pin no sooner touched the cap, than it 
flew out of Schwartz’ hand, spinning like a straw in a 
high wind, and fell into the corner at the further end 
of the room. 

“Who are you, sir?” demanded Schwartz, turning 
upon him. 

“What’s your business?” snarled Hans. 

“I’m a poor old man, sir,” the little gentleman began 
very modestly, “and I saw your fire through the win- 
dow, and begged shelter for a quarter of an hour.” 

“Have the goodness to walk out again, then,” said 
Schwartz. “We’ve quite enough water in our kitchen, 
without making it a drying house.” 

“It is a cold day to turn an old man out in, sir ; look 
at my grey hairs.” They hung down to his shoulders, as 
I told you before. 

“Ay !” said Hans, “there are enough of them to keep 
you warm. Walk !” 

“I’m very, very hungry, sir; couldn’t you spare me 
a bit of bread before I go?” 

“Bread, indeed!” said Schwartz; “do you suppose 
we’ve nothing to do with our bread, but to give it to 
such red-nosed fellows as you?” 

“Why don’t you sell your feather ?” said Hans, sneer- 
ingly. “Out with you.” 

“A little bit,” said the old gentleman. 

“Be off I” said Schwartz. 

“Pray, gentlemen.” 

14. “Off, and be hanged !” cried Hans, seizing him 
by the collar. But he had no sooner touched the old 
gentleman’s collar, than away he went after the rolling- 
pin, spinning round and round, till he fell into the cor- 
ner on top of it. Then Schwartz was very angry, and 
ran at the old gentleman to turn him out ; but he also had 
hardly touched him, when away he went after Hans and 


20 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


the rolling-pin, and hit his head against the wall as he 
tumbled into the corner. And so there they lay, all three. 

Then the old gentleman spun himself round with 
velocity in the opposite direction ; continued to spin until 
his long cloak was all wound neatly about him; clapped 
his cap on his head, very much on one side (for it could 
not stand upright without going through the ceiling), 
gave an additional twist to his corkscrew moustaches, 
and replied with perfect coolness : “Gentlemen, I wish 
you a very good morning. At twelve o’clock to-night 
I’ll call again ; after such a refusal of hospitality as I have 
just experienced, you will not be surprised if that visit 
is the last I ever pay you.” 

“If ever I catch you here again,” muttered Schwartz, 
coming, half frightened, out of the corner — but, before 
he could finish his sentence, the old gentleman had shut 
the house door behind him with a great bang: and there 
drove past the window, at the same instant, a wreath of 
ragged cloud, that whirled and rolled away down the 
valley in all manner of shapes ; turning over and over in 
the air; and melting away at last in a gush of rain. 

“A very pretty business, indeed, Mr. Gluck!” said 
Schwartz. “Dish the mutton, sir. If ever I catch you 
at such a trick again — bless me, why, the mutton’s been 
cut !” 

“You promised me one slice, brother, you know,” 
said Gluck. 

“Oh ! and you were cutting it hot, I suppose, and 
going to catch all the gravy. It’ll be long before I prom- 
ise you such a thing again. Leave the room, sir ; and 
have the kindness to wait in the coal-cellar till I call 
you.” 

15. Gluck left the room melancholy enough. The 
brothers ate as much mutton as they could, locked the 
rest in the cupboard, and proceeded to get very drunk 
after dinner. 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


21 


Such a night as it was ! Howling wind, and rushing 
rain, without intermission. The brothers had just sense 
enough left to put up all the shutters, and double bar the 
door, before they went to bed. They usually slept in 
the same room. As the clock struck twelve, they were 
both awakened by a tremendous crash. Their door 
burst open with a violence that shook the house from 
top to bottom. 

“What’s that?” cried Schwartz, starting up in his 
bed. 



“Only I,” said the little gentleman. 

16. The two brothers sat up on their bolster, and 
stared into the darkness. The room was full of water,, 
and by a misty moon-beam, which found its way through 
a hole in the shutter, they could see in the midst of it an 
enormous foam globe, spinning round, and bobbing up 
and down like a cork, on which, as on a most luxurious 
cushion, reclined the little old gentleman, cap and all. 
There was plenty of room for it now, for the roof was 
off. 

“Sorry to incommode you,” said their visitor, 
ironically. “I’m afraid your beds are dampish; perhaps 


22 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


you had better go to your brother’s room: I’ve left the 
ceiling on, there.” 

They required no second admonition, but rushed into 
Gluck’s room, wet through, and in an agony of terror. 

“You’ll find my card on the kitchen table,” the old 
gentleman called after them. “Remember, the last 
visit.” 

“Pray Heaven it may!” said Schwartz, shuddering. 
And the foam globe disappeared. 

17. Dawn came at last, and the two brothers looked 
out of Gluck’s little window in the morning. The 
Treasure Valley was one mass of ruin and desolation. 
The inundation had swept away trees, crops, and cattle,’ 
and left in their stead, a waste of red sand and grey 
mud. The two brothers crept shivering and horror- 
struck into the kitchen. The water had gutted the 
whole first floor; corn, money, almost every movable 
thing had been swept away, and there was left only a 
small white card on the kitchen table. On it, in large, 
breezy, long-legged letters, were engraved the words: — 



THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


23 


CHAPTER 11. 

Of the Proceedings of the Three Brothers after the Visit 
OF SouTtiWEST Wind, Esquire; and how Little Gluck had 
AN Interview with the King of the Golden River. 

OUTHWEST WIND, 
ESQUIRE, was as 
good as his word. 
After the momentous 
visit above related, 
he entered the Treas- 
ure Valley no more; 
and, what was worse, 
he had so much in- 
fluence with his re- 
lations, the West 
Winds in general, 
and used it so effect- 
ually, that they all 
adopted a similar line 
of conduct. So no 
rain fell in the valley 
from one year’s end to another. Though every- 
18. thing remained green and flourishing in the plains 
below, the inheritance of the Three Brothers was 
a desert. What had once been the richest soil in the 
kingdom, became a shifting heap of red sand; and the 
brothers, unable longer to contend with the adverse 
skies, abandoned their valueless patrimony in despair, 
to seek some means of gaining a livelihood among the 
cities and people of the plains. All their money was 
gone, and they had nothing left but some curious old- 
fashioned pieces of gold plate, the last remnants of their 
ill-gotten wealth. 



24 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


“Suppose we turn goldsmiths?” said Schwartz to 
Hans, as they entered the large city. “It is a good 
knave’s trade; we can put a great deal of copper into 
the gold, without any one’s finding it out.” 

19. The thought was agreed to be a very good one ; • 
they hired a furnace, and turned goldsmiths. But two 
slight circumstances affected their trade: the first, that 
people did not approve of the coppered gold ; the second. 



that the two elder brothers, whenever they had sold any- 
thing, used to leave little Gluck to mind the furnace, and 
go and drink out the money in the ale-house next door. 
So they melted all their gold, without making money 
enough to buy more, and were at last reduced to one 
large drinking mug, which an uncle of his had given to 
little Gluck, and which he was very fond of, and would 
not have parted with for the world; though he never 
drank anything out of it but milk and water. The mug 
was a very odd mug to look at. The handle was formed 
of two wreaths of flowing golden hair, so finely spun 
that it looked more like silk than metal, and these 
wreaths descended into, and mixed with, a beard and 
whiskers of the same exquisite workmanship, which 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


25 


surrounded and decorated a very fierce little face, of the 
reddest gold imaginable, right in the front of the mug, 
with a pair of eyes in it which seemed to command its 
whole circumference. It was impossible to drink out of 
the mug without being subjected to an intense gaze out 
of the side of these eyes; and Schwartz positively 
averred, that once, after emptying it, full of Rhenish, 
seventeen times, he had seen them wink ! When it came 
to the mug’s turn to be made into spoons, it half broke 
poor little Gluck’s heart ; but the brothers only laughed 
at him, tossed the mug into the melting-pot, and stag- 
gered out to the ale-house : leaving him, as usual, to pour 
the gold into bars, when it was all ready. 

20. When they were gone, Gluck took a farewell 
look at his old friend in the melting-pot. The flowing 
hair was all gone; nothing remained but the red nose, 
and the sparkling eyes, 
which looked more mali- 
cious than ever. “And no 
wonder,” thought Gluck, 

“after being treated in that 
way.” He sauntered dis- 
consolately to the window, 
and sat himself down to 
catch the fresh evening air, 
and escape the hot breath 
of the furnace. Now this 
window commanded a 
direct view of the range of mountains, which, as I told 
you before, overhung the Treasure Valley, and more 
especially of the peak from which fell the Golden River. 
It was just at the close of the day, and, when Gluck sat 
down at the window, he saw the rocks of the mountain 
tops, all crimson and purple with the sunset ; and there 
were bright tongues of fiery cloud burning and quivering 
about them; and the river, brighter than all, fell, in a 



26 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


waving column of pure gold, from precipice to precipice, 
with the double arch of a broad purple rainbow stretched 
across it, flushing and fading alternately in the wreaths 
of spray. 

21. “Ah!” said Gluck aloud, after he had looked at 
it for a while, “if that river were really all gold, what a 
nice thing it would be.” 

“No, it wouldn’t, Gluck,” said a clear, metallic voice, 
close at his ear. 

“Bless me, what’s that?” exclaimed Gluck, jumping 
up. There was nobody there. He looked round the 
room, and under the table, and a great many times be- 
hind him, but there was certainly nobody there, and he 
sat down again at the window. This time he didn’t 
speak, but he couldn’t help thinking again that it would 
be very convenient if the river were really all gold. 

“Not at all, my boy,” said the same voice, louder 
than before. 

22. “Bless me!” said Gluck again, “what is that?” 
He looked again into all the corners and cupboards, and 
then began turning round and round as fast as he could 
in the middle of the room, thinking there was somebody 
behind him, when the same voice struck again on his 
ear. It was singing now, very merrily, “Lala-lira-la 
no words, only a soft running effervescent melody, 
something like that of a kettle on the boil. Gluck looked 
out of the window. No, it was certainly in the house. 
Upstairs and downstairs. No, it was certainly in that 
very room, coming in quicker time and clearer notes 
every moment. “Lala-lira-la.” All at once it struck 
Gluck that it sounded louder near the furnace. He 
ran to the opening and looked in; yes, he saw right, 
it seemed to be coming, not only out of the furnace, but 
out of the pot. He uncovered it, and ran back in a 
great fright, for the pot was certainly singing! He 
stood in the farthest corner of the room, with his hands 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


27 


lip and his mouth open, for a minute or two, when the 
singing stopped, and the voice became clear and pro- 
nunciative. 

“Hollo \” said the voice. 

Gluck made no answer. 

“Hollo ! Gluck, my boy,” said the pot again. 

23. Gluck summoned all his energies, walked 
straight up to the crucible, drew it out of the furnace, 
and looked in. The gold was all melted, and its surface 
as smooth and polished as a river; but instead of re- 
flecting little Gluck’s head, as he looked in he saw meet- 
ing his glance from beneath the gold, the red nose and 
sharp eyes of his old friend of the mug, a thousand 
times redder and sharper than ever he had seen them in 
his life. 

“Come, Gluck, my boy,” said the voice out of the 
pot again, “I’m all right; pour me out.” 

But Gluck was too much astonished to do anything 
of the kind. 

“Pour me out, I say,” said the voice, rather gruffly. 

Still Gluck couldn’t move. 

''Will you pour me out?” said the voice, passionately. 
“I’m too hot.” 

24. By a violent effort, Gluck recovered the use of 
his limbs, took hold of the crucible and sloped it, so as 
to pour out the gold. But, instead of a liquid stream, 
there came out, first a pair of pretty little yellow legs, 
then some coat tails, then a pair of arms stuck akimbo, 
and finally the well-known head of his friend the mug ; 
all which articles, uniting as they rolled out, stood up 
energetically on the floor, in the shape of a little golden 
dwarf, about a foot and a half high. 

25. “That’s right!” said the dwarf, stretching out 
first his legs, and then his arms, and then shaking his 
head up and down, and as far round as it would go, for 
five minutes without stopping, apparently with the view 


28 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


of ascertaining if he were quite correctly put together, 
while ‘ Gluck stood contemplating him in speechless 
amazement. He was dressed in a slashed doublet of 
spun gold, so fine in its texture, that the prismatic colors 
gleamed over it as if on a surface of mother of pearl ; 



and, over this brilliant doublet, his hair and beard fell 
full half way to the ground in waving curls, so ex- 
quisitely delicate, that Gluck could hardly tell where 
they ended; they seemed to melt into air. The features 
of the face, however, were by no means finished with the 
same delicacy ; they were rather coarse, slightly inclining 
to coppery in complexion, and indicative, in expres- 
sion, of a very pertinacious and intractable disposition 
in their small proprietor. When the dwarf had finished 
his self-examination, he turned his small sharp eyes full 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


29 


on Gluck, and stared at him deliberately for a minute 
or two. “No, it wouldn’t, Gluck, my boy,” said the little 
man. 

26. This was certainly rather an abrupt and uncon- 
nected mode of commencing conversation. It might 
indeed be supposed to refer to the course of Gluck’s 
thoughts, which had first produced the dwarf’s observa- 
tions out of the pot; but whatever it referred to, Gluck 
had no inclination to dispute the dictum. 

“Wouldn’t it, sir?” said Gluck, very mildly and sub- 
missively indeed. 

“No,” said the dwarf, conclusively, “no, it wouldn’t.” 
And with that the dwarf pulled his cap hard over his 
brows, and took two turns, of three feet long, up and 
down the room, lifting his legs up very high, and setting 
them down very hard. This pause gave time for Gluck 
to collect his thoughts a little, and, seeing no great reason 
to view his diminutive visitor with dread, and feeling 
his curiosity overcome his amazement, he ventured on a 
question of peculiar delicacy. 

“Pray, sir,” said Gluck, rather hesitatingly, “were 
you my mug?” 

27. On which the little man turned sharp round, 
walked straight up to Gluck, and drew himself up to his 
full height. “I,” said the little man, “am the King of 
the Golden River.” Whereupon he turned about again, 
and took two more turns, some six feet long, in order 
to allow time for the consternation which this announce- 
ment produced in his auditor to evaporate. After which, 
he again walked up to Gluck and stood still, as if ex- 
pecting some comment on his communication. 

28. Gluck determined to say something at all events. 
“I hope your Majesty is very well,” said Gluck. 

“Listen!” said the little man, deigning no reply to 
this polite inquiry. “I am the King of what you mortals 
call the Golden River. The shape you saw me in, was 


30 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


owing to the malice of a stronger king, from whose 
enchantments you have this instant freed me. What I 
have seen of you, and your conduct to your wicked 
brothers, renders me willing to serve you; therefore, 
attend to what I tell you. Whoever shall climb to the 
top of that mountain from which you see the Golden 
River issue, and shall cast into the stream at its source, 
three drops of holy water, for him, and for him only, the 
river shall turn to gold. But no one failing in his first, 
can succeed in a second attempt; and if any one shall 
cast unholy water into the river, it will overwhelm him, 
and he will become a black stone.” So saying, the King 
of the Golden River turned away and deliberately 
walked into the centre of the hottest flame of the fur- 
nace. His figure became red, white, transparent, daz- 
zling, — a blaze of intense light, — rose, trembled, and 
disappeared. The King of the Golden River had 
evaporated. 

“Oh !•” cried poor Gluck, running to look up the 
chimney after him; “Oh, dear, dear, dear me! My 
mug I my mug ! my mug I” 



THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


31 


CHAPTER III. 

How Mr. Hans set off on an Expedition to the Golden 
River, and how he prospered therein. 

HE King of the Gold- 
en River had hardly 
made the extraordin- 
ary exit related in the 
last chapter, before 
Hans and Schwartz 
came roaring into the 
house, very savagely 
drunk. The discov- 
ery of the total loss 
of their last piece of 
plate had the effect 
of sobering them just 
enough to enable 
them to stand over 
Gluck, beating him 
very steadily for a quarter of an hour; at the ex- 
29. piration of which period they dropped into a couple 
of chairs, and requested to know what he had got 
to say for himself. Gluck told them his story, of which, 
of course, they did not believe a word. They beat him 
again, till their arms were tired, and staggered to bed. 
In the morning, however, the steadiness with which he 
adhered to his story obtained him some degree of 
credence; the immediate consequence of which .was, 
that the two brothers, after wrangling a long time on 
the knotty question, which of them should try his for- 
tune first, drew their swords and began fighting. The 
noise of the fray alarmed the neighbors, who, finding 



32 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


they could not pacify the combatants, sent for the con- 
stable. 

Hans, on hearing this, contrived to escape, and hid 
himself ; but Schwartz was taken before the magistrate. 



fined for breaking the peace, and, having drunk out his 
last penny the evening before, was thrown into prison 
till he should pay. 

30. When Hans heard this, he was much delighted, 
and determined to set out immediately for the Golden 
River. How to get the holy water, was the question. 
He went to the priest, but the priest could not give any 
holy water to so abandoned a character. So Hans went 
to vespers in the evening for the first time in his life, 
and, under pretence of crossing himself, stole a cupful, 
and returned home in triumph. 

31. Next morning he got up before the sun rose, put 
the holy water into a strong flask, and two bottles of 
wine and some meat in a basket, slung them over his 
back, took his alpine staif in his hand, and set off for 
the mountains. 

On his way out of the town he had to pass the prison, 
and. as he looked in at the windows, whom should he 
see but Schwartz himself peeping out of the bars, and 
looking very disconsolate. 

“Good morning, brother,’" said Hans; “have you any 
message for the King of the Golden River?” 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


33 


Schwartz gnashed his teeth with rage, and shook the 
bars with all his strength; but Hans only laughed at 
him, and advising him to make himself comfortable till 



he came back again, shouldered his basket, shook the 
bottle of holy water in Schwartz’ face till it frothed 
again, and marched off in the highest spirits in the 
world. 

32. It was, indeed, a morning that might have made 
any one happy, even with no Golden River to seek for. 
Level lines of dewy mist lay stretched along the valley, 
out of which rose the massy mountains — their lower 
cliffs in pale grey shadow, hardly distinguishable from 
the floating vapor, but gradually ascending till they 
caught the sunlight, which ran in sharp touches of ruddy 
color, along the angular crags, and pierced, in long level 
rays, through their fringes of spear-like pine. Far 
above, shot up red splintered masses of castellated rock, 
jagged and shivered into myriads of fantastic forms, 
with here and there a streak of sunlit snow, traced down 
their chasms like a line of forked lightning; and, far 
beyond, and far above all these, fainter than the morn- 
ing cloud, but purer and changeless, slept, in the blue 
sky, the utmost peaks of the eternal snow. 

The Golden River, which sprang from one of the 
lower and snowless elevations, was now nearly in 


34 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


shadow; all but the uppermost jets of spray, which rose 
like slow smoke above the undulating line of the catar- 
act, and floated away in feeble wreaths upon the morning 
wind. 

33. On this object, and on this alone, Hans’ eyes 
and thoughts were fixed; forgetting the distance he had 
to traverse, he set off at an imprudent rate of walking, 
which greatly exhausted him before he had scaled the 
first range of the green and low hills. He was, more- 
over, surprised, on surmounting them, to find that a 
large glacier, of whose existence, notwithstanding his 
previous knowledge of the mountains, he had been 
absolutely ignorant, lay between him and the source of 
the Golden River. He entered on it with the boldness 
of a practised mountaineer ; yet he thought he had never 
traversed so strange or so dangerous a glacier in his 
life. The ice was excessively slippery, and out of all 
its chasms came wild sounds of gushing water ; not 
monotonous or low, but changeful and loud, rising occa- 
sionally into drifting passages of wild melody, then 
breaking off into short melancholy tones, or sudden 
shrieks, resembling those of human voices in distress or 
pain. The ice was broken into thousands of confused 
shapes, but none, Hans thought, like the ordinary forms 
of splintered ice. There seemed a curious expression 
about all their outlines — a perpetual resemblance to liv- 
ing features, distorted and scornful. Myriads of 
deceitful shadows, and lurid lights, played and floated 
about and through the pale blue pinnacles, dazzling and 
confusing the sight of the traveller ; while his ears grew 
dull and his head giddy with the constant gush and roar 
of the concealed waters. These painful circumstances 
increased upon him as he advanced ; the ice crashed and 
yawned into fresh chasms at his feet, tottering spires 
nodded around him, and fell thundering across his path; 
and though he had repeatedly faced these dangers on 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


35 


the most terrific glaciers, and in the wildest weather, it 
was with a new and oppressive feeling of panic terror 
that he leaped the last chasm, and flung himself, ex- 
hausted and shuddering, on the firm turf of the moun- 
tain. 

34. He had been compelled to abandon his basket 
of food, which became a perilous incumbrance on the 
glacier, and had now no means of refreshing himself 
but by breaking off and eating some of the pieces of ice. 
This, however, relieved his thirst; an hour’s repose re- 
cruited his hardy frame, and with the indomitable spirit 
of avarice, he resumed his laborious journey. 

His way now lay straight up a ridge of bare red 
rocks, without a blade of grass to ease the foot, or a 

projecting angle to af- 
ford an inch of shade 
from the south sun. It 
was past noon, and the 
rays beat intensely upon 
the steep path, while the 
whole atmosphere was 
motionless, and penetra- 
ted with heat. Intense 
thirst was soon added to 



the bodily fatigue with which Hans was now afflicted; 
glance after glance he cast on the flask of water which 


36 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


hung at his belt. “Three drops are enough,” at last 
thought he ; “I may, at least, cool my lips with it.” 

35. He opened the flask, and was raising it to his 
lips, when his eye fell on an object lying on the rock 
beside him; he thought it moved. It was a small dog, 
apparently in the last agony of death from thirst. Its 
tongue was out, it jaws dry, its limbs extended life- 
lessly, and a swarm of black ants were crawling about 
its lips and throat. Its eye moved to the bottle which 
Hans held in his hand. He raised it, drank, spurned the 
animal with his foot, and passed on. And he did not 
know how it was, but he thought that a strange shadow 
had suddenly come across the blue sky. 

36. The path became steeper and more rugged every 
moment; and the high hill air, instead of refreshing 
him, seemed to throw his blood into a fever. The noise 
of the hill cataracts sounded like mockery in his ears; 
they were all distant, and his thirst increased every mo- 
ment. Another hour passed, and he again looked down 
to the flask at his side ; it Was half empty ; but there was 
much more than three drops in it. He stopped to open 
it, and again, as he did so, something moved in the path 
above him. It was a fair child, stretched nearly lifeless 
on the rock, its breast heaving with thirst, its eyes closed, 
and its lips parched and burning. Hans eyed it de- 
liberately, drank, and passed on. And a dark grey 
cloud came over the sun, and long, snake-like shadows 
crept up along the mountain sides. Hans struggled on. 
The sun was sinking, but its descent seemed to bring no 
coolness ; the leaden weight of the dead air pressed upon 
his brow and heart, but the goal was near. He saw the 
cataract of the Golden River springing from the hill- 
side, scarcely five hundred feet above him. He paused 
for a moment to breathe, and sprang on to complete his 
task. 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


37 


37. At this instant a faint cry fell on his ear. He 
turned, and saw a grey-haired old man extended on the 
rocks. His eyes were sunk, his features deadly pale, and 
gathered into an expression of despair. “Water !” he 
stretched his arms to Hans, and cried feebly, “Water ! 
I am dying.” 

“I have none,” replied Hans; “thou hast had thy 
share of life.” He strode over the prostrate body, and 
darted on. And a flash of blue lightning rose out of 
the East, shaped like a sword ; it shook thrice over the 
whole heaven, and left it dark with one heavy, impene- 
trable shade. The sun was setting; it plunged towards 
the horizon like a red-hot ball. 

38. The roar of the Golden River rose on Hans’ 
ear. He stood at the brink of the chasm through which 
it ran. Its waves were filled with the red glory of the 
sunset: they shook their crests like tongues of fire, and 
flashes of bloody light gleamed along their foam. Iheir 
sound came mightier and mightier on his senses ; his 
brain grew giddy with the prolonged thunder. Shud- 
dering he drew the flask from his girdle, and hurled it 
into the centre of the torrent. As he did so, an icy chill 
shot through his limbs: he staggered, shrieked, and fell. 
The waters closed over his cry. And the moaning of 
the river rose wildly into the night, as it gushed over 



The Black Stone. 


38 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


CHAPTER IV. 


How Mr. Schwartz set off on an Expedition to the Golden 
River, and how he prospered therein. 


OOR little Gluck waited 
very anxiously alone in 
the house, for Hans’ re- 
turn. Finding he did not 
come back, he was terribly 
frightened, and went and 
told Schwartz in the 
prison, all that had hap- 
pened. Then Schwartz 
was very much pleased, 
and said that Hans must 
certainly have been turned 
into a black stone, and he 
should have all the gold to 
himself. But Gluck was 
very sorry, and cried all 
night. When he got up in the morning, there was 
no bread in the house, nor any money; so Gluck 
went, and hired himself to another goldsmith, and 
he worked so hard, and so neatly, and so long every 
day, that he soon got money enough together to pay his 
brother’s fine, and he went, and gave it all to Schwartz, 
and Schwartz got out of prison. Then Schwartz was 
quite pleased, and said he should have some of the gold 
of the river. But Gluck only begged he would go and 
see what had become of Hans. 

40. Now when Schwartz had heard that Hans had 
stolen the holy water, he thought to himself that such a 
proceeding might not be considered altogether correct 



39. 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


39 


by the King of 
the Golden River, 
and determined to 
manage matters 
better. So he took 
some more of 
Gluck’s money, and 
went to a bad 
priest, who gave 
him some holy 
water very readily 
for it. Then 
Schwartz was sure 
it was all quite 
right. So Schwartz 
got up early in the 
morning before the 
sun rose, and took 
some bread and 
wine, in a basket, 
and put his holy 
water in a flask, and 
set off for the mount- 
ains. Like his brother he 
was much surprised at the 
sight of the glacier, and had 
great difficulty in crossing it, even after leaving his 
basket behind him. The day was cloudless, but not 
bright: there was a heavy purple haze hanging over the 
sky, and the hills looked lowering and gloomy. And as 
Schwartz climbed the steep rock path, the thirst came 
upon him, as it had upon his brother, until he lifted his 
flask to his lips to drink. Then he saw the fair child 
lying near him on the rocks, and it cried to him, and 
moaned for water. “Water indeed,” said Schwartz ; “I 
haven’t half enough for myself,” and passed on. And 



40 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


as he went he thought the sunbeams grew more dim, and 
he saw a low bank of black cloud rising out of the West ; 
and, when he had climbed for another hour, the thirst 
overcame him again, and he would have drunk. Then 
he saw the old man lying before him on the path, and 
heard him cry out for water. “Water, indeed,” said 
Schwartz, “I haven’t half enough for rriyself,” and on 
he went. 

41. Then again the light seemed to fade from before 
his eyes, and he looked up, and, behold, a mist, of the 
color of blood, had come over the sun; and the bank of 
black cloud had risen very high, and its edges were toss- 
ing and tumbling like the waves of the angry sea. And 
they cast long shadows, which flickered over Schwartz’ 
path. 

42. Then Schwartz climbed for another hour, and 
again his thirst returned; and as he lifted his flask to his 
lips, he thought he saw his brother Hans lying exhausted 
on the path before him, and, as he gazed, the figure 
stretched its arms to him, and cried for water. “Ha, 
ha,” laughed Schwartz, “are you there? Remember the 
prison bars, my boy. Water, indeed ! Do you suppose I 
carried it all the way up here for you?” And he strode 
over the figure; yet, as he passed, he thought he saw a 
strange expression of mockery about its lips. And, when 
he had gone a few yards farther, he looked back; but 
the figure was not there. 

43. And a sudden horror came over Schwartz, he 
knew not why ; but the thirst for gold prevailed over his 
fear, and he rushed on. And the bank of black cloud 
rose to the zenith, and out of it came bursts of spiry 
lightning, and waves of darkness seemed to heave and 
float between their flashes, over the whole heavens. And 
the sky where the sun was setting was all level, and like 
a lake of blood; and a strong wind came out of that 
sky, tearing its crimson clouds into fragments, and scat- 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


41 


taring them far into the darkness. And when Schwartz 
stood by the brink of the Golden River, its waves were 
black, like thunder clouds, but their foam was like fire; 
and the roar of the waters below, and the thunder above 
met, as he cast the flask into the stream. And, as he 
did so, the lightning glared in his eyes, and the earth 
gave way beneath him, and the waters closed over his 
cry. And the moaning of the river rose wildly into the 
night, as it gushed over the 


Two Black Stones. 


42 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


CHAPTER V. 


How Little Gluck set off on an Expedition to the Ghlden 
River, and how he prospered therein ; with other matters 
OF interest. 


HEN Gluck found that Schwartz 
did not come back, he was 
very sorry, and did not know 
what to do. He had no 
money, and was obliged to 
^o and hire himself again to 
the goldsmith, who worked 



him very hard, and gave 
him very little money. So, 
after a month or two, 
Gluck grew tired, and 
made up his mind to go 
and try his fortune with 


the Golden River. “The little king looked very 
44. kind,” thought he. “I don’t think he will turn me 
into a black stone.” So he went to the priest, and 
the priest gave him some holy water as soon as he asked 
for it. Then Gluck took some bread in his basket, and 
the bottle of water, and set off very early for the moun- 
tains. 

45. If the glacier had occasioned a great deal of 
fatigue to his brothers, it was twenty times worse for 
him, who was neither so strong nor so practised on the 
mountains. He had several very bad falls, lost his 
basket and bread, and was very much frightened at the 
strange noises under the ice. He lay a long time to rest 
on the grass, after he had got over, and began to climb 
the hill just in the hottest part of the day. When he 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


43 


had climbed for an hour, he got dreadfully thirsty, and 
was going to drink like his brothers, when he saw an 
old man coming down the path above him, looking very 
feeble, and leaning on a staff. “My son,” said the old 


man, “I am faint with thirst, give me some of that 
water.” Then Gluck looked at him, and when he saw 
that he was pale and weary, he gave him the water; 
“Only pray don’t drink it all,” said Gluck. But the old 
man drank a great deal, and gave him back the bottle 
two-thirds empty. Then he bade him good speed, and 
Gluck went on again merrily. And the path became 
easier to his feet, and two or three blades of grass ap- 
peared upon it, and some grasshoppers began singing 
on the bank beside it; and Gluck thought he had never 
heard such merry singing. 

46. Then he went on for another hour, and the 
thirst increased on him so that he thought he should be 
forced to drink. But, as he raised the flask, he saw a 
little child lying panting by the road-side, and it cried 
out piteously for water. Then Gluck struggled with 
himself, and determined to bear the thirst a little longer ; 
and he put the bottle to the child’s lips, and it drank it 
all but a few drops. Then it smiled on him, and got up. 



44 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


and ran down 
the hill ; and 
Gluck looked 
after it, till it be- 
came as small 
as a little star, 
and then turned 
and began 
climbing again. 

And then there 
were all kinds 
of sweet flowers 
growing on the 
rocks, bright 
moss, with pale 
pink starry 
flowers, and soft 
belled gentians, 
more blue than 
the sky at its 
deepest, and 
pure white 
trans par ent 
lilies. And crimson and 
purple butterflies darted 
hither and thither, and the 
sky sent down such pure 
light, that Gluck had never 
felt so happy in his life. 

47. Yet, when he had climbed for another hour, his 
thirst became intolerable again; and, when he looked at 
his bottle, he saw that there were only five or six drops 
left in it, and he could not venture to drink. And, as 
he was hanging the flask to his belt again, he saw a little 
dog lying on the rocks, gasping for breath — just as Hans 
had seen it on the day of his ascent. And Gluck stopped 



THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


45 


and looked at it, and then at the Golden River, not five 
hundred yards above him; and he thought of the dwarf’s 
words, “that no one could succeed, except in his first 
attempt” ; and he tried to pass the dog, but it whined 
piteously, and Gluck stopped again. “Poor beastie,” said 
Gluck, “it’ll be dead when I come down again, if I don’t 
help it.” Then he looked closer and closer at it, and its 
eye turned on him so mournfully, that he could not 
stand it. “Confound the King and his gold too,” said 
Gluck ; and he opened the flask, and poured all the water 
into the dog’s mouth. 

48. The dog sprang up and stood on its hind legs. 
Its tail disappeared, its ears became long, longer, silky, 
golden; its nose became very red, its eyes became very 
twinkling ; in three seconds the dog was gone, and before 
Gluck stood his old acquaintance, the King of the Golden 
River. 

“Thank you,” said the monarch ; “but don’t be 
frightened, it’s all right;” for Gluck showed manifest 
symptoms of consternation at this unlooked-for reply to 
his last observation. “Why didn’t you come before,” 
continued the dwarf, “instead of sending me those ras- 
cally brothers of yours, for me to have the trouble of 
turning to stones? Very hard stones they make, too.” 

“Oh dear me!” said Gluck, “have you really been 
so cruel?” 

“Cruel !” said the dwarf, “they poured unholy water 
into my stream: do you suppose I’m going to allow 
that?” 

“Why,” said Gluck, “I am sure, sir — your majesty, 
I mean — they got the water out of the church font.” 

“Very probably,” replied the dwarf ; “but,” and his 
countenance grew stern as he spoke, “the 1 water which 
has been refused to the cry of the weary and dying, is 
unholy, though it had been blessed by every saint in 


46 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


heaven; and the water which is found in the vessel of 
mercy is holy, though it had been defiled with corpses.’" 

49. So saying, the dwarf stooped and plucked a lily 
that grew at his feet. On its white leaves there hung 
three drops of dew. And the dwarf shook them into 
the flask which Gluck held in his hand. “Cast these into 
the river,” he said, “and descend on the other side of 
the mountains into the Treasure Valley. And so good 
speed.” 

As he spoke, the figure of the dwarf became indistinct. 
The playing colors of his robe formed themselves into 
a prismatic mist of dewy light: he stood for an instant 
veiled with them as with the belt of a broad rainbow. 
The colors grew faint, the mist rose into the air ; the 
monarch had evaporated. 

And Gluck climbed to the brink of the Golden River, 
afid its waves were as clear as crystal, and as brilliant as 
the sun. And, when he cast the three drops of dew into 
the stream, there opened where they fell, a small cir- 
cular whirlpool, into which the waters descended with 
a musical noise. 

50. Gluck stood watching it for some time, very 
much disappointed, because not only the river was not 
turned into gold, but its waters seemed much diminished- 
in quantity. Yet he obeyed his friend the dwarf, and 
descended the other side of the mountains, towards the 
Treasure Valley ; and as he went, he thought he heard the 
noise of water working its way under the ground. And, 
when he came in sight of the Treasure Valley, behold, a 
river, like the Golden River, was springing from a new 
cleft of rocks above it, and was flowing in innumerable 
streams among the dry heaps of red sand. 

51. And as Gluck gazed, fresh grass sprang beside 
the new streams, and creeping plants grew, and climbed 
among the moistening soil. Young flowers opened sud- 
denly along the river sides, as stars leap out when twi- 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 47 

light is deepening, and thickets of myrtle, and tendrils of 
vine, cast lengthening shadows over the valley as they 
grew. And thus the Treasure Valley became a garden 
again, and the inheritance, which had been lost by cruelty, 
was regained by love. 

52. And Gluck went, and dwelt in the valley, and the 
poor were never driven from his door : so that his barns 
became full of corn, and his house of treasure. And, for 
him, the river had, according to the dwarf’s promise, 
become a River of Gold. 

And, to this day, the inhabitants of the valley point out 
the place where the three drops of holy dew were cast 
into the stream, and trace the course of the Golden 
River under the ground, until it emerges in the Treasure 
Valley. And at the top of the cataract of the Golden 
River, are still to be seen two black stones, round 
which the waters howl mournfully every day at sunset; 
and these stones are still called by the people of the 
valley 


The Black Brothers. 


48 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 

RECITATION I. (Paragraphs 1-2.) 

1. Where was Treasure Valley? 

2. How did it acquire its name? 

3. Describe it in 3^our own words. 

4. Was the rest of the kingdom in which it was situated 
equalR fertile? Was it situated in the frigid zone? Prove your 
statements. 

5. What made Treasure Valley a secluded place? (Secluded : 
Placed apart, in the sense that access is barred. To be secluded, 
a person or thing must not onR be alone, but also protected 
against intrusion.) 

6. Fertility is surprising when conditions are such that it is 
not to be expected. Ruskin states some facts which show that 
Treasure Valley should have been less fertile than it was. What 
are they? 

7. Sketch the valley and the mountains, marking the posi- 
tion of the setting sun ; and explain how the sun shone on the 
Golden River when all else was dark. 

8. Point out several examples of alliteration in the sentence 
beginning “But the clouds.” (Alliteration: The use of a suc- 
cession of words containing the same initial consonant sound. 
Examples ; The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew. Drove 
a wreath of ragged cloud.) 

9. What kind of paragraph is the one we are studying? 
(Argumentative? Expositorj^? Narrative? Descriptive?) Pick 
out the topic statement. 


Paragraph 2. 

10. Tell why the following sentence does not give the main 
thought of the paragraph correctly: “The two elder of the 
brothers who owned the valley were cruel and wicked men.” 

11. Which words in the first sentence secure coherence 
between Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2? 


N. B. — The term “paragraph” is used for convenience even 
when the section referred to is not a paragraph in the technical 
sense of the word. 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


49 


12. Show that all the sentences of Paragraph 2 begin with, 
or contain, words that secure coherence. 

13. With what did the brothers shoot the blackbirds? How 
did they smother the cicadas? Sentence beginning “They shot 
the blackbirds.” 

14. What action of the brothers showed they were unwilling 
that anything of theirs should profit another, even though they 
themselves could not make any use of it? Same sentence. 

15. What actions of the brothers showed they would not 
spare any living thing when their own interest was at stake? 
Same sentence. 

16. What action of the brothers showed they were so heart- 
less as to hate to see any living thing happy, even though it did 
no harm to them? Same sentence. 

17. Which of these actions was most cruel and heartless? 
Show that there is climax in the sentence beginning “They shot 
the blackbirds.” (Climax: A figure of words which consists 
in arranging details in the order of their importance, so that the 
principal, the most impressive, or the most terrible comes last.) 

18. Show that the same sentence is a balanced sentence. 

19. Arrange the following sentences so as to have climax : 

a. He neglected his lessons, struck his mother, lied 
to his companions, and stole from his father. 

b. He was noted for his charity, was a successful 
business man, and one of the best athletes in the country. 

c. War is a source of physical suffering, of unlimited 
spiritual evils, and of financial ruin. 

20. Pick out actions of the brothers that indicate the fol- 
lowing bad qualities: Lack of charity; avariciousness; injus- 
tice; cruelty; lack of respect for law; irreligion. What one 
obligation did Schwartz and Hans fulfil? Why do you think 
they did so? 

21. Note the following rules for outlining a paragraph: 

a. Write down the subject, or topic, of the para- 
graph, and to the right of it draw a brace. 

b. To the right of this brace write down the main 
divisions of the paragraph. 

c. If any of these divisions are subdivided, draw 
other braces, and indicate the subdivisions. 

d. Note the topic statement if one is to be found. 

c. Make your work condensed but complete. 


50 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


Show that these rules are observed in the following outline 


of Paragraph 2: 





'' a. 

Ugly 

1 (1) eyebrows 





j (2) eyes 





r (1) blackbirds 

Two 


h. 

Cruel to 

animals J (2) hedgehogs 

Elder 




[(3) cicadas 

Brothers 




r(l) unjust 



c. 

Wicked 

J (2) selfish 





1 (3) irreligious 




Hated by all 


The complete topic is not expressed in any one statement. 

22. Which quality of the paragraph (unity, continuity, co- 
herence, emphasis) would be destroyed if we introduced in the 
above paragraph a description of the Golden River? If we ar- 
ranged the parts in the order d, b, a, c? 

23. Familiarity of style is a quality suitable to a simple story 
such as The King of the Golden River. It is had when the au- 
thor talks to us just as we would talk to one of our companions. 
Among the things that help to give this familiarity we may 
note: 

a. The use of a simple and unvaried sentence struc- 
ture such as is used in conversation. (“He did this. . . . 
He did that. . . . He did so and so.”) 

h. A certain form of repetition common in conver- 
sation. (“He became an engineer, and a very good en- 
gineer he was.’') 

c. The use of the second person. (“As I have told 
you. . . .”) 

What gives Paragraph 2 its familiar tone? 

RECITATION H. (Paragraphs 3-7 inclusive.) 

Z4. Express in sentences of less than twenty-five words the 
main thought of Paragraphs 3, 4, 5, and 7. 

25. Is Paragraph 7 narrative or descriptive? By what 
method is it developed? Outline it in the manner explained in 
Question 21. 

26. Point out an example of irony in the sentence beginning 
“He was usually appointed.” (Irony: The use of expressions 
in which one says the opposite of what he means, the real mean- 
ing being apparent from the context, the tone of voice, etc. You 
are using irony when you say: “Algebra is a lovely study.”) 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


51 


27. In the same sentence, what is said to show that the 
brothers often went hungry in order to save money? What is 
the name of the vice thus manifested? (Remember that there 
was no need for the brothers thus to deny themselves.) 

28. What action of Schwartz and Hans narrated in Para- 
graph 4 was more wicked and dreadful than any heretofore 
mentioned? 

29. Quote an expression used by Gluck in Paragraph 5 show- 
ing that he found pleasure in doing good to others. Can you 
recall the last two lines of the quatrain : 

He prayeth best who loveth best 
All things both great and small? 

The lesson of this great poem is the same as that of The King 
of the Golden River — that cruelty and selfishness bring w^oe 
upon the soul, and result in its final destruction. Who knows 
the name of the poem and can tell what cruel deed caused all 
the affliction described in it? 

30. What orders did the brothers give Gluck when they left 
the house? What one weakness of Gluck’s did they have in 
mind when they gave these orders? If5. 

31. Why was it astounding that the knocker was in a hurry? 

32. Tell in your own words what “the extraordinary 
looking little gentleman” (Southwest Wind) looked like, and 
how he obtained an entrance into the house. 

33. Pick out an example of hyperbole in the sentence be- 
ginning “He had a very large nose.” 1[7. (Hyperbole: A figure 
of speech in which the expression used is evidently exaggerated. 
Example: He is as slow as a snail.) 

34. By using four words, and four only, Ruskin tells us that 
the little gentleman had a very pleasant disposition. What are 
they? V- 

35. Write down in one column all the adjectives in Para- 
graph 7 descriptive of color and quality; in another, all those 
descriptive of size and shape ; and in a third, all the verbs and 
participles descriptive of action. 

36. A figure (of speech) is an expression used in a sense 
different from that which properly belongs to it, for the sake 
of giving life or emphasis to the idea. For example, when 
Ruskin speaks of “dry bread” (US), he uses “dry” in the sense 
that properly belongs to it; but when he speaks of “a whole- 
some quantity of dry blows” (lf3), he is using a figure of speech, 
for a blow is neither dry nor wet. 


52 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


The following is one method of discussing figures : 

(1.) Write down the figurative expression. 

(2.) Paraphrase it; that is, write down exactly what 
it means. 

(3.) Tell what two things are shown by the figure to 
have a similarity. 

(4.) Try to think of other objects to which you can 
apply the same figurative word. 

(5.) See if the antonym of the figurative word could 
be used in its place. (An antonym is a word directly 
opposed to another in meaning.) 

For example: 

(1.) The Expression: Dry blows. 

(2.) Paraphrase: Blows. inflicted without comment or 
explanation. 

(3.) Things compared: A blow inflicted without any 
explanation making it easier to bear is like food unpalat- 
able because of its dryness. 

(4.) Other objects: A dry book; a dry story; a dry 
study. (Note that the meaning of “dry,” as of most 
figurative expressions, changes with the object to which 
it is applied.) 

(5.) Antonym: A wet blow. Could not be used. 

(1.) The Expression: A refractory fire. 

' (2.) Paraphrase: A fire that will not light or burn 

properly. 

(3.) Things compared: A fire that burns poorly is 
compared with a person who stubbornly refuses to obey. 

(4.) Other objects: A refractory ladder; a refractory 
automobile; a refractory hat; a refractory boat. (Dis- 
cuss the possible meanings of these expressions.) 

(5.) Antonym: A compliant fire. Might be an ex- 
cellent expression in certain connections. Could be used. 

RECITATION III. (Paragraphs 8-13 inclusive.) 

37. Tell in your own words what happens in these para- 
graphs. 

38. Discuss the following figures according to the plan given 
in Question 36: a) The fire dancing on the walls; h) his heart 
melted within him ; c) the wind made the old chimneys totter. 

39. The old gentleman was “a strange mixture of coolness 
and humility.” Remember that he was Southwest Wind, come 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


53 


to try the brothers and to give them a chance to show by some 
act of kindness that they were not unworthy of the gifts they 
had received. Therefore he bore himself humbly, so that if 
the brothers gave him anything, it would be done out of charity, 
and not because they suspected he was greater than he appeared 
to be. At the same time he was cool ; and that means in this 
case two things. First, he knew that he could protect himself, 
and so had not the least fear of anybody. Secondly, he had a 
certain careless air found sometimes in persons who are so very 
great that they do not have to think what kind of impression 
they are making on others. This is the picture Ruskin wishes 
to draw of the old gentleman. In answering the following 
questions, tell in each case whether the words and actions of 
the old gentleman reveal the coolness or the humilit}' explained 
above: 

a. Are his first words dignified and solemn, or com- 
monplace? 1|8. 

h. Does he appeal patiently to Gluck when the latter 
hesitates to grant his request, or does he become threaten- 
in? 1[8. 

c. Is he afraid of Gluck’s terrible brothers? What 
words in the text confirm your answer? ^9. 

d. What means does he take to get a piece of Gluck’s 
mutton? ^11. 

e. Tell which of the following adjectives properly 
describe his attitude towards Schwartz and Hans : Hum- 
ble, independent, blustering, suppliant, patient, threatening. 

40. Let us now examine’ what Gluck says and does, and see 
what it reveals concerning him : 

a. He addresses the old gentleman ten times, and 
every time uses a certain title of honor. What is it, and 
what does it show concerning his manners? 

h. What was the motive that finally induced him to 
let the old gentleman in at great risk to himself? ^9. 
Does this agree with what we learned about Gluck in 
Questions 29 and 30? 

j. Show from Paragraph 11 that Gluck, although 
terrorized by his cruel brothers, was not a mere simpleton, 
but that he observed men shrewdly and formed a judg- 
ment concerning them. 

d. How could Gluck have possibly learned such good 
manners from his brothers? 


54 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


e. Does Gluck say anything after his brothers enter ? 
What is he doing during this time? 

/. Point out some points of resemblance between 
Gluck and Ruskin when the latter was a boy. 

41. In this scene Schwartz and Hans behave in their usual 
violent and heartless manner. Tell us some of their cruel ac- 
tions; quote some of their merciless words; quote some of their 
sarcastic remarks. 

42. The two brothers were certainly wealthy enough to own 
a good house. Was it a good one, or had it been allowed to go 
to ruin? (1[9.) Does this agree with what we discovered in 
Question 27? 

RECITATION IV. (Paragraphs 14-17 inclusive.) 

43. Tell in your own words what happens in this section. 

44. Discuss the following figures according to the method 
given in Question 36: a) Replied with perfect coolness; b) a 
wreath of ragged cloud; c) a cloud melting away, d) howling 
wind; e) in breezy letters. 

45. What example of preternatural power have we in' Para- 
graph 14? 

46. As a rule, a bully is a coward; and his method of going 
about his business can be described as follows: 

a. He attacks someone whom he thinks he can over- 
come, adopting a blustering tone and using violent lan- 
guage. 

b. If resisted, he gives up before he is really hurt. 

c. When, however, his intended victim begins to 
move away, the bully once more adopts a threatening 
manner. 

d. He then relieves his feelings by falling on some- 
one whom he can surely get the better of. 

Show by references to Paragraph 14 that Schwartz and Hans 
act precisely in this way; in other words, that they are types of 
perfect bullies. 

47. Into what did the old gentleman change himself when 
he left the house? 1[14. 

48. What is the subject of the verb drove? ^14. 

49. Point out the alliteration (see Question 8) in: “Clapped 
his cap on his head, gave a twist to his corkscrew whiskers, and 
replied with perfect coolness.” “Drove a wreath of ragged 
cloud, that whirled and rolled away.” 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


55 


50. Why is “Sorry to incommode you” ironical? ^16. (See 
Question 26.) 

51. What damage did the old gentleman do to the valley? 
To the farm? To the house? What was his purpose in work- 
ing such havoc? 

RECITATION V. (Paragraphs 18-23 inclusive.) 

52. Tell in your own words what happens in the selection 
for today’s recitation. 

53. Give in short sentences the main thought of Paragraphs 
18, 19, 20, and 22. Of these four paragraphs, which two are 
purely narrative, and which two are partly narrative and partly 
descriptive? (Omit here the dialogue at the end of Paragraphs 
18 and 22). 

54. At what season of the year did Southwest Wind pay his 
momentous visit? (See Paragraph 5, first sentence.) What do 
you think the brothers did the following spring? All during 
the following summer? 

55. Why did the brothers leave Treasure Valley, and whither 
did they go? 

56. Why did Schwartz and Hans turn goldsmiths? What 
caused them to fail in this trade? 1[1[18-19. 

57. Why is “slight” ironical? What does the context show 
its real meaning to be? 1119. 

58. Pick out thirteen adjectives and participles in the last 
sentence of Paragraph 20 expressive of quality, color, or action. 
• 59. Prove that the second speaker in Paragraph 21 had the 
power of reading the thoughts of others. 

60. What word is modified by “Upstairs, and downstairs”? 

IF 22. 

61. Why was Gluck astonished? (1[22, “And ran back in 
great fright.”) 

62. Discuss the following figures according to the method 
given in Question 36: a) flowing hair; h) an effervescent melody; 
c) Gluck summoned all his energies. 

RECITATION VI. (Paragraphs 24-28 inclusive.) 

63. Tell in your own words what happens in this section. 

64. Outline Paragraph 25. (See Question 21.) 

65. Ruskin represents the King of the Golden River as: 

(1.) Exquisitely dressed. 

(2.) Beautiful in some respects, and ugly in others. 

(3.) Extremely small. 


56 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


(4.) Quick, sharp, and fiery in disposition. 

(5.) Altogether odd in his manner o£ acting. 

Run through the details given below, and tell which of the five 
qualities just enumerated each one brings out: 

a) A pair of pretty little yellow legs; h) a little golden dwarf 
about a foot and a half high; c) shaking his head up and down 
for five minutes without stopping; d) dressed in a slashed doublet 
of spun gold; e) his hair fell in waving curls, so exquisitely 
delicate that Gluck could hardly tell where they ended; f) the 
features of the face were rather coarse ; g) and indicative of a 
very pertinacious and intractable disposition in their small pro- 
prietor; h) he stared at him deliberately for a minute or two; 

i) took two turns of three feet long This pause gave 

Gluck time .... ; j) lifting his legs very high, and setting them 
down very hard. 

66. “No, it wouldn’t, Gluck, my boy.” (1|25, end.) To what 
do these words refer? 

67. Tell which of the following adjectives properly describe 
the parting words of the King of the Golden River (1128) : 
Familiar, dignified, colloquial, humorous, solemn, trivial, grave, 
commonplace. Does this speech differ in tone from his pre- 
ceding ones? Is there any reason why it should? 

68. Quote the sentence in which Ruskin beautifully and ac- 
curately describes what happens when a solid substance becomes 
vaporous under the influence of intense heat. Is the sentence 
referred to rapid and vigorous, or does it drag? Show that the 
style used is perfectly suited to the event described. 1[28. 

69. Compare the King of the Golden River and Southwest 
Wind. Which one is larger? More conscious of his dignity? 
More beautiful? Which one is gruff and blunt, which one hum- 
orous and ironical? Which one works wonders of a physical 
kind? (For example, taking the roof off a house.) Which 
one works wonders of a more subtle kind, such as telling what 
is in a person’s mind? Tell what each one turns into when 
his visit is over. 

70. What reason does the King of the Golden River assign 
for giving the brothers an opportunity to repair the past? 1128. 

71. “My mug!” (1128 last sentence.) Gluck had already 
destroyed his mug when he melted it. Why, then, does he be- 
come so upset about it now? 

72. Does Gluck determine to steal away and win the river 
of gold for himself? What good quality does this show? 

73. Discuss the following figures as was done in Question 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


57 


36: a) to collect one’s thoughts; h) the consternation evaporates; 
c) his curiosity overcame his amazement. 


RECITATION VII. (Paragraphs 29-32 inclusive.) 

74. Give a brief synopsis of these paragraphs. 

75. Pick out the most beautiful descriptive paragraph in 
today’s lesson. Give both the local and the temporal point of 
view. Show that the paragraph has unity and continuity. {Local 
point of viezv: The place from which the object is seen and 
described. If you observe a river from a boat sailing on its 
surface, your local point of view is different from that of a 
person observing the same river from an airship. Temporal 
point of view: The time of day at which the object is seen.) 

76. Once more we find Schwartz and Hans revealing an 
entire lack of kindly feeling and self-restraint. Mention the 
actions in Paragraph 29 that indicate intemperance, cruelty, and 
selfishness. 

77. Why did Hans wish to set out immediately? ^30. 

78. Why did the priest refuse Hans the holy water? Would 
he have given it to him if he had thought it would do him any 
good ? PO. 

79. Hans knew how to make the Sign of the Cross, but had 
never attended vespers, even as a boy. What does this show 
concerning his early training and his appreciation of it? PO. 

80. Jealousy, a most powerful passion, makes us desire the 
possessions of others and grieve over their enjoyment of them. 
Who shows jealousy in Paragraph 31, and in what simple but 
strong words does Ruskin describe its effect on him? 

81. Cruelty consists in inflicting needless pain on others; 
barbarity, which is still worse, consists in taking pleasure in the 
spectacle of another’s suffering. What example of barbarous 
conduct have we in Paragraph 31? 

81. Prove that Hans was perfectly confident of succeeding 
in his quest, and tell what you think made him feel so. Pl. 

83. Paragraph 32 contains a magnificent description of a 
mountain range seen in the early morning. The traveler, stand- 
ing in the valley, lifts his eyes, and sees first the lower cliffs, 
still in the shadow; then the spot where the rising sun strikes 
the mountain; above that, the huge masses of rock; and higher 
still, the snow-clad peaks. It is an accurate description, for it 
is based on what Ruskin himself saw many times during his 
trips in the Alps. It is full of well-chosen, picturesque, and 


58 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


imaginative words, full of music, and full of true poetic feeling. 
In order to gain a better appreciation of it, let us run through 
the following exercises: 

a. Draw a profile of the mountains and follow the descrip- 
tion by marking the position of the following details: (1.) The 
lower cliffs in pale grey shadow; (2.) The sunlight running in 
sharp touches of ruddy color; (3.) The red splintered masses of 
castellated rock; <^4,) The utmost peaks of the eternal snow; 
(5.) The Golden River. 

b. Show wherein the following phrases are alliterative : 

(1.) Level lines of dewy mist lay stretched; (2.) massy mount- 
ains: (3.) touches of ruddy color along the angular crags; 
(4.) in long level rays; (5.) castellated rock, jagged and shiv-/ 
ered into myriads of fantastic forms; (6.) here and there a 
streak of sunlit snow; (7.) far beyond, and far above all these, 
fainter than the morning cloud. . ' 

c. Read so as to bring out the rhythm indicated : 

(1.) Level I lines of | dewy | mist lay | stretched a|long the| 
valley. 

(2.) Here | and there | a streak | of sun|lit snow. 

(3.) Floated ajwa}'^ in [ feeble | wreaths ujpon the | morn- 
ing I wind. 

d. Discuss the following figures as in Question 36: (1.) The 
color pierced their fringes. (2.) Masses of rock shot up. (3.) 
Masses of castellated rock. (4.) A streak of snow traced down 
their chasms. (5.) Slept the utmost peaks of the eternal snow. 
(6.) Jets of spray floated away. (7.) In feeble wreaths. 

84. In what respects are clouds and the eternal snow dis- 
similar? Mention three. ^32. 

RECITATION VIII. (Paragraphs 33-38 inclusive.) 

Before beginning this recitation, note that during Hans’ jour- 
ney the fairies used their power to accomplish various things: 

(1.) They created obstacles, and made the ascent of the 
mountain very difficult. 

(2.) By strange sights and sounds they sought to terrify 
Hans and make him repent of his sins. 

(3.) They gave him three chances to repair the past. 

(4.) After each failure on his part to accept these chances, 
they expressed their disapproval by visible signs. 

(5.) When the moment came for him to throw his holy 
water into the stream, they gave him one last terrible warn- 
ing. 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


59 


(6.) The time of mercy being ended, they fulfilled their 

threat. 

85. Where did the strange glacier come from? What was 
its purpose? ^[33. 

86. What sounds issued from the strange glacier? What 
did they resemble? What was their purpose? 1[33. 

87. What did the “thousands of confused shapes” into which 
the ice was broken resemble? Why did the fairies cause Hans 
to see these resemblances? 1[33. 

88. Mention something that dazzled and confused Hans’ sight. 

89. What effect did the gush and roar of the concealed 
waters have on Hans? 1133. 

90. What two events mentioned in the last sentence of Para- 
graph 33 put Hans in danger of death? 

91. What made Hans resume his journey? 1[34. 

92. From what two causes did Hans suffer acute pain? 1[34. 

93. What was the first trial? How did the dog come to be 
on the glacier? Wh}^ was not Hans much to blame for failing 
in this trial? Did the fairies, however, give any sign of disap- 
proval ? 1[35. 

94. Describe the second trial. Who was the fair child? 
What sign of anger was given when Hans failed in this trial? 
f36. 

95. Describe the third trial, and the consequent sign of dis- 
approval. P7. 

96. What significance was there in the fact that the Hash 
of blue lightning took the shape of a sword? 

97. Repeat what you learned about climax in Question 17. 
There is climax in the three trials if Hans’ action becomes 
more unpardonable each time. Show that this is the case. Show 
that there is also climax in the three signs of disapproval. 

98. What word shows that Hans, at the final moment of his 
attempt, was filled with fear? 1[38. 

99. Would Hans have been turned into a black stone, not- 
withstanding all his sins, if he had refrained from throwing the 
flask into the stream? (Read Paragraph 28.) 

100. Discuss the following figures in the usual way: a) Drift- 
ing passages of wild melody; 6) lurid lights played and floated; 
c) tottering spires nodded around him ; d) and fell thundering 
across his path; e) long snake-like shadows crept up along the 
mountain sides; /) they shook their crests like tongues of fire; 
g) the moaning of the river rose wildly into the night. 


60 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


RECITATION IX. (Paragraphs 39-43 inclusive.) 

101. Application of the Law of Contrast. A passage that is 
sublime and full of feeling may advantageously be followed by 
one of a simple character. Paragraph 38 depicts in magnificent 
language the convulsion of Nature, the terrible internal struggle 
of Hans, and his frightful death. Paragraph 39 is calm, simple, 
and unadorned. Find some conversational expressions similar 
to “went and told Schwartz.” 

102. What effect does Hans’ failure to return have on 
Schwartz? On Gluck? What difference in their characters 
does this indicate? P9. 

103. Wicked men, when saved through the generosity of 
others, make promises which they have no intention of keeping. 
Did Schwartz really mean to give Gluck any of the gold? 1[39. 

104. How much of his earnings did Gluck give to Schwartz? 
1139. 

105. What did Gluck desire more than the gift of some of 
the gold of the river? Do Gluck’s actions here show that he 
has a very forgiving disposition? 1139. 

106. How did Schwartz secure his holy water? Could a 
bad priest bless holy water? Are faith and piety necessary 
before holy water can benefit us? Why was Schwartz’ holy 
water useless to him? 1[40. 

107. Describe the three trials of Schwartz. Which of those 
undergone by Hans is omitted, and what takes its place? 

108. There is climax in the trials if Schwartz’ action be- 
comes more unpardonable each time. Show that this is the case. 

109. Describe the three signs of the fairies’ disapproval, and 
show that there is climax in them. 

110. How could Hans be lying on the mountain if he had 
been changed into a black stone? 

111. The description of Schwartz’ death would fall flat if it 
were not more sublime than the parallel passage in which Hans’ 
death is described. Ruskin secures this effect, in the first place, 
by describing the convulsion of Nature in more detail. The 
elements mentioned in Paragraph 38 were simply these: 

(1.) Hans heard the roar of the river. 

(2.) How the waves of the river looked. 

(3.) The sound increased so that he became giddy. 

In a parallel column write down the details given in Para- 
graph 43. Which of the two contains more striking details? 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


61 


Again, Ruskin uses in Paragraph 43 a simple sentence struc- 
ture which is one of the secrets of the sublime style of the most 
beautiful passages in Holy Scripture. Write down the first two 
of three words of every sentence or clause of Paragraph 43 
that begins with the word “And.” Do you think the constant 
recurrence of this word is one reason why Ruskin’s style here 
resembles that of Holy Scripture? 

112. Discuss the following figures: a) like the waves of the 
angry sea; h) waves of darkness seemed to heave. 

RECITATION X. (Paragraphs 44-52 inclusive.) 

r 

113. Tell in your own words the story of the last chapter. 

114. Read Quesl^ion 101. Are the remarks made there ap- 
plicable to Paragraph 44? 

115. Was Gluck avaricious in desiring to get the gold for 
himself ? 

116. Describe in your own words Gluck's first trial. 1[45. 

117. Was Gluck irritated and depressed by the fact that the 
old man drank so much of his water? K45. 

118. Describe the signs of approval that followed the first 
trial. 

119. Discuss the second trial and the signs of approval. 1146. 

120. What was the third trial ? Did Gluck come near failing 
in it? What motive finally determined him? 1[47. 

121. The law of climax is beautifully illustrated in Gluck’s 
trials. In the case of Hans and Schwartz, the trials had to be 
arranged in such a way that their failure would be more inex-' 
cusable in the second case than in the first, and in the third than 
in the second. In the case of Gluck, they had to be arranged 
so that the 7nerit of victory would be greater. Show that they 
are arranged in this way, and tell in what order the old man, the 
dog, and the child appeared a) to Hans, and h) io Gluck. 

122. Tell the lesson of the story as expressed in Paragraph 
48, last sentence, and Paragraph 51, last sentence. 

123. Show that Gluck made good use of his prosperit 3 ^ ^52. 

124. Schwartz means “black,” Gluck means “fortunate,” and 
Hans is sometimes used as a title of contempt for a person who 
amounts to very little. Show' that these names suit the characters 
of the three brothers. 


62 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


OUTLINE FOR AN ACCOUNT OF THE STORY. 

In writing these compositions try to be as original as you 
can. Do not hesitate to expand, rearrange, and improve. See 
if you can call attention to some point about the story not 
brought out in class. Do not simply copy passages from the 
story, but put things in your own words. If for some special 
reason you use Ruskin’s own words, enclose them in quotation 
marks. 

Paragraph 1. 

When and how Ruskin wrote this story. 

What lesson does it teach? 

Paragraph 2. 

The principal characters are two fairies and three brothers. 

The brothers had a farm called .... It was situated .... 
A very beautiful place ; mountains, rivers, cataracts. 

And also extremely fertile; it produced .... 

Paragraph 3. 

This fertility was a special favor of Heaven. 

For the surrounding country was .... 

(See Questions 4 and 6, and Paragraph 4 of the text.) 
Paragraph 4. 

Despite these blessings, the two elder brothers were ungrateful 
and wicked. 

They were cruel to animals. (Questions 14, 15, 16.) 

Did not use their abundance to help others. (Paragraphs 2 and 
4 of the text.) 

Were given to every form of wickedness. (Questions 20, 27, 
28, 41, 42, 46, 76.) 

Paragraph 5. 

The younger brother, Gluck, was .... 

His age. His appearance. 

His virtues (obedience, patience, kindheartedness, generosity.) 
Paragraph 6. 

The fairies determined to give the brothers a final trial. 

What Gluck was doing when he heard the knock at the door. 
How he admitted Southwest Wind; their conversation by the 
fire. (Paragraphs 5-12.) 

Paragraph 7. 

At this point Schwartz and Hans burst into the house. 

What they did and said; the outcome. ^Faragraphs 12-15.) 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


63 


Paragraph 8. 

The brothers had had their chance and abused it, so Southwest 
Wind determined to destroy their inheritance. 

His fatal visit. 

How the brothers struggled on for a time; why they gave up; 
what they did after leaving the valley. (Paragraphs 15-18.) 

Paragraph 9. 

Gluck had been happy in the beautiful valley despite his broth- 
ers. But now .... 

He often longed for his old home. One day, while their last 
piece of gold was in the melting-pot, he sat at the window 
looking at the Golden River. 

Then the King of the Golden River appeared to him; his offer; 
his departure. (Paragraphs 19-28.) 

Paragraph 10. 

When Gluck told his brothers, they fought to see who should 
go first. 

Schwartz was put in prison, and Hans set out for the river. 

How he got his holy water; how he said good-bye to Schwartz. 

What the morning was like ; the appearance of the mountains 
as he approached them. (Paragraphs 29-33.) 

Paragraph 11. 

But Hans had made one fatal mistake. He did not understand 
that the King would not be satisfied with holy water unless 
in addition to the blessing of the priest it had been sancti- 
fied by some act of charity. The King was going to give 
him a chance during his ascent of the mountain to do some 
such act of charity. But first he tried by strange sights 
and sounds to make him enter into himself and repent. 

The strange sights. The strange sounds. 

The events that endangered Hans’ life. 

When Hans pressed on, the King gave him three trials. His 
failure and fate. (Paragraphs 34-38.) 

Paragraph 12. 

What Gluck did when he received the news of Hans’ death. 

How he got Schwartz out of prison. 

How Schwartz got his holy water and set out; his trials; his 
fate. (Paragraphs 39-43.) 


64 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


Paragraph 13. 

Gluck now left alone in the world; wh}^ he decided to set out. 

How he got his holy water ; his ascent of the mountains ; trials ; 
victory; reward. 

Paragraph 14. 

The lesson of the story is true today. 

It is the lesson taught »by our Lord (St. John, 13.35.) 

The rich must help the poor; their wealth is a sort of trust. 

If they fail. they will be punished (St. Matthew, 25. 41-46.) 

Paragraph 15. 

Not only the story, but the excellent style as well, have made 
this work one of the most popular written by Ruskin. 

He varies his style to suit the events he is narrating. 

In the beginning of the story the style is light and playful. He 
uses a familiar style and indulges in irony and exaggera- 
tion; for example .... 

His description of Southwest Wind, is .... 

The character of the King of the Golden River, too, is ... . 

In the more serious part of the story his style changes. 

The description of the mountains in Paragraph . . is . . . 

The account of Schwartz’ death is ... . 

Paragraph 16. 

In Praeterita Ruskin mentions the things that helped determine 
the tone of The King of the Golden River. 

First, Dickens. His influence appears in the hopelessly wicked 
characters of Schwartz and Hans, and their cruelty towards 
Gluck. (Do you remember any work of Dickens in which 
similar characters appear?) 

Second, Grimm. His fairy tales suggested the preternatural 
characters in the story. 

Third, Ruskin’s own experiences in the Alps. (Which parts of 
the story are evidently descriptions of what Ruskin saw 
there?) 

Paragraph 17. 

There is one thing Ruskin does not mention, and that is that 
little Gluck is a picture of Ruskin himself as a boy. 

Where is this resemblance manifest? (See the Introduction.) 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


65 


EXERCISES IN THE CHOICE OF WORDS 
(Especially suitable for blackboard- work.) 

1. What you must do in these exercises is to fill out the 
blanks with words selected from the lists, 

2. More words are given than are required, in order to 
afford some freedom of choice. 

3. It may happen that, after you have filled the greater num- 
ber of the blanks to your satisfaction, no words as yet unused 
appear suitable for the blanks that remain unfilled. In this 
case insert words of your own selection; or, if none occur to 
you, use over again some of the words already employed. 

4. It is needless to say that the words should above all else 
be accurate and fitting — “make sense,” as we say, 

5. When you have a choice between two words, use the 
stronger, provided either one expresses the thought; for ex- 
ample, “He hurled him to the ground” is better than “He threw 
him to the ground.” 

6. When possible, choose a word that is figurative; for ex- 
ample, “The tree was draped with moss” is preferable to “The 
tree was covered with moss.” 

7. Choose the word that makes the passage more melodious. 
As a rule there will be in the list some word with the same 
number of syllables as the corresponding word in the paragraph 
we are imitating. finding this word the rhythm of the original 
as written by Ruskin will be preserved. 

8. When you have arranged the words to j^our satisfaction, 
copy out the exercise with the words in their proper places, and 
underline all the figures of speech. 

9. This exercise, of course, can not be called composition. 
It accomplishes but two things: first, it forces one to weigh 
words and analyze their meaning; and secondly, it causes the 
mind to dwell upon and be filled with the melody of Ruskin’s 
finest passages. 

EXERCISE I. A CORNER OF PARADISE. 

Modeled on Paragraph 1. 

In a and part of the forest I came 

across, by accident, a clump of wild flowers of the 

most and color. They were 


66 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


on all sides o£ a and spring, rising amid 

the roots of trees, which were always with moss, and 

through which the water away in a double stream. 

One of these flowed westward, through the recesses of a glade so 
that, when the sun was , shining ; every- 
where else, his beams could not this glen, 

so that it remained as, as some cavern of the 

world. It was therefore called by the people of the 

neighborhood the Wood of Shadows. 


bountiful 

covered 

growing 

quiet 

brightly 

dark 

happy 

i^emote 

brilliant 

deep 

massed 

secluded 

clear 

draped 

mingled 

stole 

climbing 

flowed 

nether 

unexplored 

cold 

gorgeous 

penetrate 

varied 


It was not strange that I had never before either of 

these streams to its source. They both flowed through the deep- 
est part of the forest and sped away through brakes 

and ravines. But from that time on I was drawn so 

to the spring, and found so much delight 

in its seclusion, that in time of sadness and , 

when all the worl.d seemed , there was still 

to be found near my bed of wild flowers ; and its roses were 

so , and its violets so , and its lilies so 

, and its bed of moss so , and its ferns so 

, that it was a marvel to me each time that 

I beheld it, and seemed to have been transplanted from some 
corner of Paradise. 


blue 

impenetrable 

silvery 

tall 

comfort 

investigated 

soft 

tangled 

distress 

irresistibly 

solace 

thick 

dreary 

red 

stony 

traced 

fresh 

rocky 

sweet 

white 


EXERCISE II. THE HOUSE OF GHOSTS. 

Modeled on Paragraph 1. 

In a and part of the township there 

stood, not many years ago, a house in a state of the most 

and decay. It was surrounded on all sides 

by and fields, rising into , which 

were deeply with weeds, and among which a number 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


67 


of quarries lay in silence. One of these 

westward, to the of a wood so that, when 

the traveler had explored everything else and the wood alone 

remained , he was forced to pause before its entrance, 

so that it continued forever to be an land. It was 

therefore called by the people of the neighborhood the Haunted 
Wood. 


abandoned 

barren 

complete 

distant 

edge 


extended . 
fringe 

irreparable ^ 

knolls 

overgrown 


rocky 

sown 

tangled 

undisturbed 

unknown 


unpeopled 

untilled 

untrodden 

utter 

weird 


There was a reason for the fact that people avoided this 

• house. They remembered the mystery of 

the past, and always chose a path leading well away from the 
quarries, the wood, and the house. But the birds of the 

• , the bats and the owls, were attracted so 

to these shadows, and left so in the 

ruins, that when all the world was asleep, there was 

still a clamor about the spot ; and the noise was so 

, and the forms so , and the 

whole atmosphere so , that it was a source of 

to all who passed it, and was commonly called the 

House of Ghosts. 


deserted 

empty 

fearsome 

flitting 


lonely 

night 

powerfully 

protecting 


strange uncanny 

terrible unmolested 

terror * unsolved 

tumbled weird 


EXERCISE HI. THE FALL OF THE CZAR. 
See Paragraph 18. 


been the most 


He who had once 
Europe became the — 

the family, unable to 

calamity, deserted 

— hearts, to seek some 


monarch of 


victim of insult and injury; and 
the weight of this 


their 


leader with 


amid the cities and peoples of 
affliction escape 

bleeding foreign 

broken irreparable 

defenceless misery 


- from their 
lands. 


numerous 

ornamental 

powerful 

royal 


stricken 

support 

throbbing 

wretched 


68 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


EXERCISE IV. THE WRECKED SCHOONER. 
Modeled on Paragraph 20. (Last sentence.) 


It was just at the break of day, and, when the sailors 

upon the beach, they saw the masts of the schooner, 

all and by the tempest ; and there were 

flocks of gulls dipping and ' 

about them ; and the ocean, than ever, dashed, in a 

mass of surf, from chasm to chasm, with 

the disc of the sun shining upon it, flush- 

ing and fading alternately in the wreaths of spray. 


arrived 

bare 

circling 

darting 


foaming 

morning 

raging 

red 


rising 

shattered 

solid 

splintered 


stranded 

white 

wilder 

wrecked 


EXERCISE V. THE SNOWBOUND FISHERMEN. 
Modeled on Paragraph 32. 


(The fishermen have been overtaken by winter in the Arctic 
regions. Their food has given out, and they have to choose 
between two methods of escape — a trip across the ice-choked 
sea in a small boat, and a journey on foot through almost im- 
passable snow.) 

It was indeed a prospect that might have made anyone 

, even with no of hunger to combat. 

floes of ice were on the ocean, 

out of which rose the icebergs, their lower halves 

in deep shadow, hardly distinguishable from the 

sea, but gradually ascending until they caught the 

sunlight, which shot in flashes of bright- 
ness along their sides, and sparkled like 

spangles from their of projecting ice. 


blinding 

blue 

clusters 

enormous 


floating 

frozen 

giant 

knifelike 


opal 

pains 

pangs 

restless 


roughhewn 

shifting 

silvery 

tremble 


On the land lay stretched out expanses of 

^ snow, whirled and into myriads of 

drifts, with here and there a line of 

furze, cutting the like — strokes of a pencil ; 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


69 


and, far beyond, so far beyond all this, 

breath of morn, but unattainable and , 

heaven, the smoke of their 


— than the 
rose, in the 


hearths. 

beckoning 

black 

clear 

dazzling 


expectant naked 

huge sharp 

impassable sweeter 

mocking tumbled 


uncovered 

unlimited 

vast 

whiteness 


EXERCISE VI. OVER THE TOP AT NIGHT. 

Modeled on Paragraph 33. 

The ground was excessively , and out of all the 

shell-holes came cries of soldiers, not 

or hopeful, but continuous and , rising 

occasionally into passages of agony, then 

breaking off into , groans, or ^ 

gasps, resembling those of prisoners with rack and 

rope. The land was into thousands of 

hollows, but none, he thought, like the ordinary effects of 

shells. There seemed a menace about all 

their outlines — a resemblance to the work of demons, 

determined and . 


blasted 

bursting 

circular 

convulsive 

curious 

despairing 


difficult 

exploding 

funny 

harrowing 

haunting 

intermittent 


maddening 

merciless 

piercing 

quick 

relentless 

rough 


sheer 

strange 

sudden 

tortured 

unbearable 

wounded 


Myriads of flares and star-shells 

■ and floated about and ‘through the 

heavens, revealing and the movements of the soldiers ; 

while his ears grew dull and his head giddy with the 

crash and of the bombs. The 

of destruction grew in as he advanced; the earth was 

torn and ; into fresh chasms at his feet, 

shells around him and their fragments 

across his path; and though he had repeatedly faced these perils 

in the most combats, and on the most 

fields, it was with a arid feeling of panic 

terror that he his rifle, and flung himself, powder- 

stained but , towards the sanflbags of the parapet. 


70 


LOYOLA ENGLISH CLASSICS 


bitter 

exploded 

imperiling 

troubled 

brilliant 

flashed 

riven 

unconquerable 

ceaseless 

flung 

strange 

unscathed 

crashing 

fury 

terrific 

violence 

dangerous 

grasped 

thunder 

wild 

dazzling 

hurricane 

ft 

thundered 

work 


EXERCISE VIL OVER THE TOP AT NIGHT (continued.) 


Modeled on* Paragraph 43. 


And an rage came over him, he knew not why; 

and the passion for prevailed over his fear, and he 

rushed on. And the barrage of shells lifted beyond 

the trench, and out of it came of shrap- 
nel, and of fire seemed to and play be- 

tween their flashes, over the whole heavens. And the earth 

where the barrage was falling was all , and like a sea 

in ; and mines were exploded beneath that 

earth, tearing its bloody into fragments, and 

■ them far into the darkness. 


clods hurling searing 

death-dealing puffs terrific 

flicker rumbling tongues 

flying scourging turmoil 


twisted 

ungovernable 

upheaved 

victory 


And when he stood by the of the trench, its sides 

were with blood and fire, but its depths were 

with the heaps of the slain ; and the of 

the dying below and the shells above met, as he cast his last 

bomb into the night. And, as he did so, a stream of 

fire shot full upon him, and the earth gave way beneath him, 

and the closed over his cry. And the of 

the battle rose ^ into the night, as it over 

THE ’MARTYR TO HIS COUNTRY. 


black 

dark 

edge 


flames 

liquid 


raged 

red 

shouts 


shrieks 

tumult 

wildly 


noise 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER 


71 


EXERCISE VIII. THE RETURN OF PEACE. 


Modeled on Paragraph 51. 

But as the weeks passed, grass the 

of nature, and plants spread, and the out- 
lines of the earth. flowers blossomed 

by the trenches, and the ^ — of larks made 

the air once filled with the roar of cannon, and 

thickets of myrtle and tendrils of vine cast shadows 

over the graves as they grew. And thus the field of battle 

became a garden again, and the , which had been 

destroyed by man’s , was by God. 


beauty 

carols 

covered 

concealed 


creeping 

fair 

fresh 

furrowed 


mantled 

peacefully 

restored 

reverent 


scars 

selfishness 

sweet 

wholesome 


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